The Road To The Safe Haven
by GoEun08
Summary: The gladers are finally out of the maze and were taken by armed men. They were all relieved but Holly knew too well it wasn't over. Will they be able to leave the scorch alive? Will Holly finally reveal who she really is? Part 2 of my story, Second Chance Second Life. Rated M for some smut in the chapters. NewtXOC
1. Prologue

_Almost half of the human race was swept clean when an organization called WICKED released a deadly virus they called the Flare. But of course, they didn't let the world know that. They made people think that they were the good ones and they were helping create a cure, when in fact they planned it all along to release the said virus to control the population of humans. During the process two groups, of young boys and girls, were used as test subjects. They were brought in a secluded environment with no memory of who they were and were only left with their first name. They would then work together in rebuilding a community of their own which tested their physical and mental capabilities. They had no clue that everything were set up by WICKED for them to check their brain activities and see what made a certain individual immune to the virus. But these test subjects weren't ordinary, they were exceptionally smart and realized from the beginning that WICKED couldn't be trusted._

 _With the help of the Right Arm, a group of people against WICKED, the groups of young boys and girls defeated the said organization. A lot of friends and loved ones were lost at the process but, their sacrifice didn't go to waste. The remaining people that were immune lived together and one of them even successfully found a cure in which they used on saving the lives of the cranks._

 _Because of that tragedy, Thomas and Minho built a new headquarters where WICKED used to stand and called it TAIMN, which was read as time. It served as a memorial for their friends that they lost and Thomas swore that he would use the power of science to correct things and not use it for evil. With the help of Hans, they created the TAIMN pods, the most important equipment in TAIMN for them to travel back in time and stop whatever catastrophe any government leaders were planning to do. With the success of the headquarters, they were able to stop destructive events from happening and somehow created a better world. Rebuilt the world even._

The organization TAIMN have three important types of workers— the TAIMN traveler, Watchers, and Clock Master. The TAIMN travelers are the ones that go back in time to stop any catastrophe from happening and are very skilled in combat. The Watchers are the ones that keep an eye on the TAIMN travelers when they are on a mission. They are the ones in charge of preparing the TAIMN pods, which serve as some sort of time machine. When a traveler is given a mission, he or she has to lie down in a pod and have wires attached to their bodies to scan their body's and brain's condition. Once everything is set, the pod is closed and an odorless gas fills the pod making the traveler unconscious. The Watcher will then check on the computer screen for a green light which is the signal that the traveler safely reached their destination. The last important worker is the Clock Master. Their task is pretty simple, when a traveler gets badly injured during a mission it is the Clock Master's decision to bring them back to the present time. They either give them enough time to recuperate or bring a new traveler to continue the mission.

One of TAIMN's important rules is that you cannot go back in time for any personal matter that you would like to change. But Thomas, the head and founder of the new organization, decides to break his own rule for one special mission. The reason he came up with TAIMN in the first place is to commemorate his friends that passed away due to WICKED's work. For him, they deserved to be alive just like him. And so, he called up one of their greatest TAIMN traveler and told her to go back in time and experience the experiments they've been through and get all his friends out alive as much as possible.


	2. Chapter 1

***Finally after years of waiting, I made a sequel. Haha. The first was mostly based on the movie but this is based on the book. I don't own anything but i do have two original character, Holly and Jake Adams. I used the faceclaims of Barbara Palvin and Dean O' Gorman for my characters. Please do read and enjoy. Comments are appreciated.**

The road was empty. No cars, no animals, no people except for the gladers and armed men inside the big moving bus. The rain turned the already gloomy town gloomier, murky, and wet with the occasional flickering of the lights that came from the tall lamp posts the bus passed by.

Holly didn't say a word during the trip and stayed quiet by the window side, her gaze fixated on the outside. Her whole body ached and she felt like she had bruises and scratches everywhere right after their encounter with grievers and deadly escape from the maze. She couldn't help but clutch on the purple backpack that was on her lap while she bit her bottom lip. She recalled the things that had happened back in the Glade— grievers attacking the glade killing Alby and a few other friends and their escape through the maze which killed a few more gladers. Guilt started to fill her thoughts making her chest tighten as if all the air was being blocked from going in. Minho, the present Minho to be exact, gave her a notebook with events he remembered and gave out tips. It was basically like a cheat code for a video game. She could have prevented the deaths of the gladers if she kept her focus on her mission and not only on a certain blonde haired guy.

She snapped back from her absent minded gaze when she felt a finger poke her cheek. She turned to her side and found her seatmate, Newt, giving her a worried look.

"Are you alright? You've been quiet" the worry sounded evident in his tone and facial expression. And just like her and the rest of the gladers, he too was exhausted, bruised, and wounded.

Holly managed to force a smile and nodded. "I'm fine, just a little exhausted"

It was a lie but fortunately, Newt believed her word and gently pulled her close, pressing his lips on her forehead. Holly kept herself close to Newt, almost cuddling him in their seat, when she saw Minho walking at the aisle of the bus towards them. The former Keeper of the Runners found the vacant seat in front of the couple and dropped his tired body on it as he took a seat and let out a grunt when his head bumped against the window.

"I can't believe we're out of the shucking place" Minho muttered as he glanced at his fellow gladers. Most of the gladers were quiet and tired, probably traumatized too with what they just experienced. There were small talks from some of them but others, just like what Holly was doing, were looking outside the window watching all sorts of colors merge into a blur due to the speed of the bus.

"Me either" Newt chimed in, a sigh of relief coming out of his lips. "After two bloody years"

"It's sad that we lost a few good friends but still, we did it. And what you did for Chuck was amazing, Holly"

"Yeah, that was really good on your part. If you didn't attack Gally, he could've killed Chuck"

"I'm sure you guys would've than the same" Holly said humbly before turning around. Sitting at the back of the bus were Thomas and Teresa with the stubby boy between them. According to the files she had read before starting the mission, Chuck died right after escaping the maze. So despite the guilt she was feeling of losing Alby and other gladers, Holly felt proud of saving Chuck and for giving Newt the cure to the flare.

"I feel strange though" Minho spoke again, almost in a whisper that only Newt and Holly could hear.

"I feel the same way" Newt replied with his arms folded over his chest and looked out the empty street. "It's like there are no other people except us"

Holly was delighted that she wasn't the only one who noticed it. They had been driving for almost an hour now and not a single person or animal was in sight. They passed by malls, gas stations, diners, and all sorts of buildings but there was no one except them as if the whole town was deserted. She glanced around looking at the armed men quietly seated with them and noticed some of them would look at her direction.

 _Maybe they're wondering who I am and what I'm doing with them,_ she thought.

One of them smiled at her direction and she smiled back before looking away then clutched onto her purple backpack again. The last twenty four hours in the maze was such a mess that she barely had time to be alone and check on the notebook. She really wished she spent more time reading it so at least she would have a clue on what was about to happen. But she knew for a fact that the gladers' fight against WICKED wasn't over.

"Maybe there's a storm?" She pointed out, distracting herself by joining the two gladers' conversation and pointed out to the continuous pouring of the rain.

Minho looked outside as well and shook his head, "Nah, I don't think so. It doesn't look that bad. And we could've at least seen a car pass by us"

"What time is it anyway?"

"It's almost seven thirty"

"Maybe there's some sort of a curfew?" Newt suggested as he looked at the both of them. "I mean, if that woman back in the maze said that a deadly virus made a breakthrough all over the world then people would be taking precautions. Maybe none of them ever wanted to leave the house just to be safe"

Holly and Minho remembered the woman Newt was referring to. After getting out of the Glade, they found themselves inside of a laboratory and saw a video of Ava Paige talking about a deadly virus. Holly, of course, knew very well that all of it was a lie but she had no way of telling it to anyone and had to pretend she didn't know. But for someone who had been living in the Glade for years with no clue as to what was happening in the outside world, Newt's assumption kind of made sense that Minho eventually agreed with the idea. The three of them felt the bus slowing down as soon as it took a right turn at an abandoned parking lot. It was dark but the one story building beside it was well lit that it shed some light on the empty lot where they were parked. The bus door slid open and three armed men went out first, gesturing the gladers to follow.

They got out, one by one, and ran towards the building to get away from the rain. Holly held Newt's hand tightly and entered the building along with the others. They walked along a wide hallway with its walls painted blue and fluorescent lamps over their heads. Holly kept looking around and accidentally made eye contact with Thomas who was with Teresa and Chuck just behind them. They both exchanged questioning looks, wondering where they were being taken and if they were really safe.

At the end of the hallway were two metal doors. The armed man in front pushed them open and smiled at the gladers as he told them to get in. The first few gladers, who walked in, like Jeff and Frypan, couldn't help but to stand in shock with whatever they were seeing. The surprised gasps made Holly curious and walked quickly to the front dragging Newt along with her. When she entered the room, her blue eyes widened. There was a long table in front of them that was overflowing with food—not the kind of survival food they had in the Glade but real food such as boxes of pizzas, buckets of fried chickens, platters of assorted fresh fruits, and a big whole chocolate cake.

"No need to be shy" one of the rescuers said and chuckled. "Dig in"

Without a minute to waste, everyone took a seat around the long table and still couldn't believe what they were seeing. They started taking one of everything, filling their plates until there was no more room left. Holly wasn't too sure at first if they were safe to eat but her stomach was already grumbling that she eventually took a bite on a big slice of pepperoni pizza. She couldn't help but let out a satisfied grunt, thankful that she was able to taste pizza again with what felt like years. She looked at her fellow gladers and saw that they too were as happy as she was. Chuck was stuffing his mouth with all kinds of food until his cheeks were greasy and covered with chocolate icing, Thomas and Teresa were having a conversation of their own as they ate, and a few others were laughing and celebrating that they were finally free from the maze.

For a moment, Holly's heart sank. She knew too well that it was not the end of their hardships. If it was, she should have been back in TAIMN with her brother and Minho congratulating her for a job well done. But she was still in the past, in her sixteen year old body. She took a quick glance at the purple backpack hanging on her back, tempted to look at the black notebook and see what they were about to face next.

"Hey Holly"

She turned around and was startled when a mozzarella stick dipped in salsa poked her lips. "It's pretty good" Newt, who was holding the fried cheese, said cheerfully.

Without another word, Holly took a big bite out of it and laughed heartily as the strand of cheese became longer when Newt pulled the other half away. She nodded as she chewed, satisfied with its delicious taste and wiped her greasy lips with a napkin. "It's really good"

"It is" Newt ate the other half of it happily before taking another one. "It's bloody good"

"Should I learn how to make one for you so you'll be able to eat more of it?" she asked and somehow forgot all about her worries as she watched him eat.

Newt looked at her with a grin and couldn't help but nod to her question, "You'll be the best girlfriend ever if you can make some of these for me"

Minho was just sitting next to Newt, disgusted with their conversation that he started making gagging noises which acquired him a smack on the head courtesy of the blonde guy. _Get used to it,_ he told Minho as he laughed and continued filling his stomach with delicious food. An hour later, the food was swept clean. Only the chicken bones and fruit seeds were left on the plates of the gladers who felt sick to their stomach for eating too much. The rescuers got their attention once again and told them it was time to show where they would be sleeping tonight.

A female rescuer opened the door on the right side of the mess hall and went inside. The gladers slowly followed inside and found themselves inside a big common room. There were big couches around the room with matching coffee tables and pots of plants as ornaments. But there were no radios, television, computer, books, or anything that would associate them with the current events of the outside world. Adjacent to the door they just went through were seven more identical doors.

"Those are the bedrooms" the rescuer said pointing at the doors. "Each room has five beds, a dresser filled with clean clothes, and a bathroom with all the necessities you need. You can choose whoever you guys want to share a room with except you two" she pointed at the two female gladers.

Holly and Teresa exchanged confused looks. They had spent a lot of time in the Glade with the boys and never had a problem sleeping together in one space.

"Why can't we choose?" Holly asked out of curiosity.

"I'm sorry but we're just doing it to protect the two of you" the rescuer said.

"Protect from what though?"

Minho snickered at how innocent Holly could be at times. He stood between her and Newt, with his arms around their shoulders and gave the rescuer a smile.

"There's no need for that" he shared. "We've all been together in the Glade or whatever it was that WICKED made but here we all are, safe. We're no strangers to them. I can honestly say that they are well protected by us. Especially Holly, she has Newt" he then gave Holly's arm a squeeze. "And the more you separate them, the more Newt's sex hormones might go insane" Minho groaned when his blonde friend sneakily elbowed his chest pretty hard while the other gladers snickered and Holly kept her head down in embarrassment.

"Oh" the rescuer was completely surprised, not expecting that they were in some sort of intimate relationship. "Well, uhm, very well then. You two can be together but you have to stay in a room on your own" she pointed at Teresa.

Teresa didn't really mind. She didn't want to share a room with noisy snoring guys anyway and she could just hang out with them in the common room whenever she pleased. And as the female rescuer left, the gladers grouped themselves into five and picked the room they were staying in. Newt and Holly were thrilled to know that not only were they staying in a room together but they had the room for their own. Five rooms were just right for the gladers so Teresa took one for her own and the other one for the couple.

Newt opened the room to their bedroom and Holly ran inside excitedly. It was a real room. Not a room made of twigs and logs but a real concrete room with real beds and furniture. Five single beds were properly aligned and covered with white sheets and each had two pillows. Across it was a brown dresser filled with clothes for the both of them already. Newt took a moment to lie down on the bed and a bright smile flashed on his face. It felt like forever since he'd rested on a real bed. In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time. He grabbed one pillow and hugged it tightly hoping it would be that way forever.

Holly turned on the light switch of the bathroom. She went inside the cold room and noticed everything was white—from tiles to towels. She walked up to the sink and found a tube of toothpaste and two toothbrushes, bottles of shampoos and soap ready for them. There was also a big mirror and she saw how untidy her reflection was after the battle they've won at the maze. Although all of it was normal stuff, Holly couldn't help but to feel so at home. She ran back to the bedroom and saw Newt still lying on the bed, smiling at her.

"Oof!" Newt grunted as Holly jumped and lay on top of him, chuckling. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her his brightest smile. Everything seemed to be in order for Newt. They were out of the maze, they had shelter, and most of all he had Holly. He couldn't ask for anything more. He started pecking her lips several times when the door suddenly opened.

"Ugh, why do I always end up seeing something weird?" It was Minho, already in his pajamas, with Thomas standing next to him.

"Oops, we didn't mean to disturb you two" Thomas said with an apologetic smile and was about to close the door.

"O-oh no it's alright" Holly called out as she quickly sat up along with Newt. "You can come in"

Minho ran inside the room like a little kid and dived on the bed where the couple was sitting while Thomas closed the door behind him before joining them. Newt looked down at Minho who was comfortably lying at the foot of their bed and realized that he was still filthy despite changing his clothes.

"You haven't even showered and you're already on your PJ" he pointed out, reclining on the pillow behind him.

Minho remained down on his stomach when he answered, "There are five people in our room and Fry Pan was the first to go in the bathroom. I already reserved to go after him"

"How is Teresa doing?" Holly asked Thomas. "I hope she's alright being alone in one room"

"Yeah, she's fine. She actually likes having her own space so it's all good. She already went to sleep" Thomas told her with a smile.

"Can you believe it? We're out of that shucking Glade" Minho said with a grin, inhaling the cool air that came from the air conditioner and was still somehow flabbergasted with the fact.

"It's pretty awesome" Newt admitted with a smirk on his face. He was one of the few who first entered the Glade and he, too, couldn't believe he was out after years of being trapped there. He looked at Thomas and smiled. "We wouldn't be out of that bloody place if it wasn't for Tommy"

"Nah, we all helped one another" was all Thomas could say.

"Oh come on, dude. Don't be so humble" Minho laughed and hit him with the pillow he was holding.

Thomas snatched the pillow away from him, laughing, and then caught a glimpse of Holly. She suddenly got quiet next to Newt with her gaze on something above them. Thomas followed her gaze and realized that she was looking the window. Nothing seemed extraordinary about it except for the steel bars that seemed to be barricading it like it was avoiding people from the inside to get out or vice versa.


	3. Chapter 2

***Warning: This chapter contains smut**

The three guys and Holly shifted their attention toward the closed door when they heard someone clapping in the common room. It was one of the male rescuers, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention announcing that everyone should be in their respective rooms already to sleep.

"Well, that's our cue to leave" Thomas said with a sheepish smile and got up.

Minho tossed the pillow back to Newt and got up as well, grinning at the couple as he made his way to the door with Thomas. "Well I guess you two can consider this as some sort of _honeymoon_. Have fun" then he pointed at them with a serious look. "But keep the noise down because I don't want to hear your nasty moans in the middle of my sleep"

"Shut up, shuck face" Newt laughed then gave Thomas a playful salute. "Goodnight, Tommy"

"Good night, you two. We'll see you in the morning" Thomas said and carefully closed the door right after Minho took one last peek to wave at them.

The room fell silent after the two guys left. They could hear the faint sound of the other doors closing and the gladers shouting goodnight to everyone. Holly placed her bag under the bed and caught Newt smiling at her.

"I'm sorry I can't take you to a fancy honeymoon location" he said jokingly with a big grin on his face.

Holly laughed and crawled towards him deciding to play along. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a peck on the lips.

"It's alright. The location doesn't matter. What matters is we have one another" she replied, smiling.

"Aren't you just sweet? But seriously though, after we get out of this bloody place. Where would you like to go? I mean, I know you'd like to see your brother but, if you're going to choose a place to go with me. Where would it be?"

"Hmm, nothing fancy. I'd just want to stay in a pretty cottage"

"A cottage?" he asked with an amused look and began playing with her slightly matted hair.

Holly nodded and smiled as she imagined it inside her head. "The cottage would be away from the noisy city. It can be beside a lake or in a beautiful meadow surrounded by pretty flowers"

"That's a lovely idea. Away from the noise and away from people who dares try to disturb us"

"That's correct" she laughed then sat back up looking at herself. She was completely filthy with a mixture of everything—sweat, rain water, dirt, and blood. "I better go take a shower to freshen myself before heading to bed"

As she kicked off her worn out sneakers and walked bare feet on her way to the bathroom, Newt followed and quickly grabbed her hand. Holly turned around and realized that the young guy's face was a deep shade of crimson.

"Can I join you?" he asked, hoping that the answer would be a yes.

Holly intertwined her fingers with his and slowly walked backward towards the bathroom, pulling him with her. "You don't even have to ask. Of course you can join me"

When inside the bathroom, the both of them started taking their dirty clothes off and left it scattered on the floor. They didn't bother closing the door anymore for they knew that everyone was in their respective rooms sleeping already. They got inside the shower room and felt the cold tiles under their feet. Newt slowly turned the silver knob and warm water sprinkled over them. Holly gasped and was overjoyed with the warm water trickling over her and saw that it washed away every speck of dirt and blood from her body. She grabbed the bottle of shampoo that smelled like fresh berries and squeezed a good amount of it on her palm and rubbed it against her scalp until it became foamy. Newt did the same and took the bar of soap to wash every corner of his body. When he was done with his self, he looked at Holly who was busy playing with bubbles on her hands.

To Newt, Holly looked beautiful and pure. She was definitely a tough girl who knew how to fight and defend herself but there was something innocent and feminine about her which made her even more adorable to his eyes. His gaze scanned her thoroughly and noticed that she had wounds in different parts of her body. Some of it was fresh and some of them healed already but left a scar. The biggest wound was the one on her stomach. It was dry already but the stitch marks were still visible and made Newt frown as he remembered the time Holly was attacked by Ben. Holly was minding her own business when suddenly; she felt a hand touch the stitches on her stomach. She watched him quietly and saw how sad his eyes looked.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there in time" he whispered and kept his gaze on the wounds on her body.

Holly smiled. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. I'm fine. You're as wounded as I am"

It was true; the young blonde had cuts and bruises all over too. Not to mention, a permanent limp that was like a souvenir for him from the maze. He pulled Holly for a tight hug and kept her really close to him, happy that he was able to get out of that nightmare with her.

"I'll protect you" his voice was confident. "I won't let any of them hurt you anymore"

Holly couldn't help but smile as she hugged him back. Even when they had no feelings for each other yet when they first met, he was already nice and caring towards her. She was happy to be his and happier that she was able to get the opportunity of meeting and saving him. "I'll do the same for you, Newt" she said in reply.

"Come on; let me wash your body"

Newt released Holly from the hug and reached for the soap again. He rubbed the slippery block with his hands and carefully rubbed it throughout her body. Holly stood still and blushed at the sight of Newt washing her body like she was a little kid. She kept looking at him and couldn't help but smile. Being a TAIMN traveler, Holly had met so many people during her missions but she never fancied anyone. She never expected that it was during a special secret mission would she fall in love with someone. She started to laugh when Newt rubbed the soap on her foot which tickled her. When he was done, he opened the shower again to rinse all the soap and shampoo from their body. Holly faced the wall with her eyes closed and relaxed as the water fell over her body. She didn't care if the water was too warm, she actually liked it. Too preoccupied, Holly got startled when Newt back hugged her and planted a soft kiss on her bare back.

"Well isn't this romantic?" Holly laughed and tried glancing back at him. "We're like standing under the rain"

Newt grinned and kissed her back again, "It is. You know what'll make it more romantic?"

"What?"

"If we actually make love right here right now"

Holly's cheeks heated up and before she could even reply, Newt was already planting kisses on her neck and groping her breast which made her groan in delight. She didn't hate the idea at all. After meeting Newt, she felt things she never felt before and wanted to do things she never imagined she would be doing. She leaned forward against the cold white tiles of the bathroom wall while Newt sucked on her neck and left small love marks on it. He continued fondling with her breast, occasionally pinching her erect nipple while the other hand traveled down her navel and then between her legs. She whimpered softly as his hand cupped her sex with his fingers gently slipping between the folds and would poke her sensitive clit. Holly licked her lower lip and moaned under shower, enjoying the way Newt touched her body.

Newt pushed her more against the wall; her breasts squished between the wall and her body, and slightly parted her legs. Holly felt a tingling sensation ran through her body as Newt rubbed his erect member against her entrance. After a few seconds of teasing, he finally pushed it in as deep as he could and began to thrust. Holly parted her lips, letting out soft moans in between thrusts. She couldn't remember how many times they have done it already but it felt amazing every time. Newt pressed his body against her, moaning in her ear, and bit her neck again tugging onto her soft skin. He was happy to be outside the maze already after years of being trapped there and he felt like now was the time things would be back to the way it was. Or even better, it could be the time to start a new life with Holly.

His thrusts started to quicken that Holly's moans grew louder. She held onto the knob of the shower and felt her legs weakening at every thrust. They've never done it standing up and she thought her legs were going to give up at any moment.

"M-my legs are getting weak" she managed to say, feeling her juices drip down her inner thighs.

Newt was breathing heavily when he pulled his member out. He turned Holly around so she was facing his direction and draped her arms over his shoulders.

"Hold on tight" He said with a grin.

"Wha—" Holly gasped when Newt lifted her up from the ground and supported her by holding her onto her butt cheeks.

Holly wrapped her legs around his waist tightly to refrain herself from falling and kissed him as passionate as she could. Newt deepened the kiss and slipped his tongue inside her mouth, exploring every corner. As they kissed, he pushed Holly's back against the wall for support and led his member back inside her entrance. Holly moaned into the kiss, feeling her body bounce in every thrust and her tongue flicking against Newt's. Despite accidentally turning the warm shower to cold, Holly's body was burning hot with lust. Newt thrust deeper and harder, aroused with the erotic sounds Holly was making and the slapping of their skins under the pitter patter of the shower. With a deep final thrust, Newt released his warm load inside of her.

Holly rested her head on his shoulder, exhausted. Newt reached for the knob and finally turned the shower off, heaving, and then stepped out of the bathroom. Excess water dripped from their body creating a trail leading to the bed. He carefully lay Holly down and slowly pulled his member out of her entrance. Holly moaned softly and could feel the sticky fluid seep out of her entrance and onto the white sheets of the bed. Newt lay down beside her as exhausted as she was but still managed to smile.

"It's always fun doing it with you" he admitted before planting a soft kiss on her lips.

Holly giggled and kissed him back. "I like it a lot too"

After a few minutes of rest, Newt got up and walked to the dresser to pick out a few clothes he would wear. He had put on a pair of black boxers and blue pajama pants while he draped a gray shirt over his shoulder. He began looking at the female clothes and picked out a nice pair of purple panties and a bra.

"What would you like to wear?" Newt asked, rummaging through the clothes. "Shorts? Skirt? A dress?"

"I want to wear one of your shirts" She replied, covering her naked body with a pillow.

Newt grinned at her request and grabbed a clean white shirt. Once he closed the dresser, he walked back to the bed and sat beside her.

"Was I too rough this time?" he asked, rubbing her sore legs. He always got too excited making love with her that he didn't notice if he was being too rough already.

Holly tossed the pillow aside and sat up to put on the underwear Newt got for her.

"It was fun, you don't have to worry about that" she smiled and wore the big white shirt that looked like a dress on her.

"Well, I suggest you don't tie your hair for a while" Newt laughed and touched her neck where he had left bite marks. "Unless you want Minho teasing us again"

Holly pulled him close for a cuddle. They couldn't hear any noise from the neighboring rooms which meant that the other gladers were fast asleep after what seemed like an eternity of hell. The room was beginning to get colder due to the air conditioner and Newt pulled the blanket over them. As Holly rested her head on Newt's chest, she caught a glimpse of the small window and noticed the bars again.

"Do you think we're safe here?" she whispered and her worries from earlier started to come back.

Newt held her close and rubbed her arm as he took a relaxing deep breath. "I don't really know" he admitted with a soft voice. "I couldn't tell if these people are trustworthy. But, they gave us food and a place to sleep on. I guess it's good for now. If anything goes wrong, I'm sure we'll be able to handle it. We survived the maze, we can survive whatever it is in store for us" he smiled and kissed her forehead. "And don't you worry; I'm here to protect you, always"

Holly closed her eyes and smiled. She liked the last word. _Always._ Even though she knew very well things weren't over yet, she felt a sense of peace in Newt's arms. She felt the steady rise and fall of his chest and the beating of his heart which made her glad that he was alive above all problems. Slowly, she drifted to sleep and enjoyed the temporary normal life they got.


	4. Chapter 3

The night was peaceful. The rain had stop and the gladers were sound asleep in their beds without any worries that a griever would attack them. Newt had easily fallen asleep right after making love with his girl and for the first time in a long time didn't have to listen to Fry Pan's loud snore. He was in such a deep slumber that his arm was dangling on the edge of the bed, not having a care in the world about grievers or the maze anymore. Holly, on the other hand, kept tossing and turning on her side of the bed. She was having a nightmare. In her dream she could see her older brother, Jake, and best friend Minho walking along a narrow hallway while dragging a man's unconscious body. She couldn't tell if the man was dead or not but, he was obviously not in a good situation. They were also wearing identical outfits, which was black like they were a part of special service but she couldn't remember TAIMN having that kind of uniform for any employee.

" _Beware of the cranks! And stay safe in the Scorch!"_ she heard Minho said. But he didn't seem to be talking to Jake.

He was more like talking to her, if that was even possible.

It was like he was giving her a warning or a sign with what was about to happen.

 _Jake and Minho finally reached the end of the hallway and found a small door leading to a storage room. Jake quickly opened the door and dragged the body inside with Minho tiredly and closed the door behind them before wiping the beads of sweat that formed on his forehead. Minho got on one knee and pulled out a black duct tape from his pocket and began tying the unconscious man's hands together while Jake had put on a white lab coat just like the one he wore when he's on Clock Master duty._

" _You go ahead" Minho said and started taping the man's mouth. "I'll finish this one up. Don't get yourself killed"_

 _Jake smirked and clipped a fake I.D. on the lab coat he was wearing._

" _I'll try my best then. Meet me in the common room in about an hour" Jake said and gave Minho a pat on the shoulder then walked out of the storage room trying to blend in with the people passing along the hallway._

Holly grunted and continued tossing and turning. What was her dream all about? What were her brother and best friend doing? Minho's warning sounded too real as if he was saying it to her ear. She couldn't help but worry that it might be a sign something bad was happening to the both of them back at the present time. She slowly opened her eyes, her blurred vision seeing nothing but the dark room illuminated by the moonlight coming from the barred window. She slowly sat up and looked at the young man beside her, happy that he was there and sleeping peacefully. She carefully got out of bed and bent down to grab her backpack that was just under it. She sat down on the floor comfortably as she unzipped her bag, pulling the familiar black notebook. From one page to another, Holly kept turning them until she found something that was useful. Written in big letters was the word Crank, the same thing Minho said in her dream. She took a quick glance behind her when Newt shifted his position but went back to reading the notebook after realizing he was still asleep.

 _Beware of the Cranks. These are the people that are infected with the virus. At first, they are normal but as soon as the virus spreads in their system, they can go out of control. They'll be like zombies who won't hesitate killing any human being. Any Cranks can be saved but I suggest you help those in the early stage. The ones past the Gone are too dangerous. Give the remaining vaccines to those who need it._

After reading, Holly took the photo that was inserted between two pages of the notebook. She smiled just by seeing the happy faces of her older brother and best friend. Now that she was doing a mission relating to what had happened to Minho in the past, she appreciated him more. He had always been nice and caring to her when they became friends but, knowing the hardships he had gone through and the losses he had made her respect him even more. She closed the notebook and put it back in the bag, pushed it under the bed, then crawled back next to Newt and hugged him tight. With eyes still closed, Newt held her tightly and continued to sleep. Holly watched him closely and couldn't help but smile. Despite the mission still not finished, the mere fact that she had given Newt the vaccine for the virus already made her feel like she succeeded. They still had a long way to go but at least she could feel at ease knowing that Newt won't be infected anymore.


	5. Chapter 4

The morning started with the sound of breaking glass, terrifying screams, and pounding of the door. Holly and Newt quickly got up, startled and confused with what was going on but Minho kept pounding on their door shouting their names worriedly like he was about to break in anytime. Newt scooted out of the bed and ran to the door, stumbling at the process, and opened it right after Holly had put on a pair of shorts. Minho sighed deeply in relief at the sight of Newt.

But Newt felt the opposite. He was frustrated that his sleep was interrupted and at the same time confused with the entire ruckus around them.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" he asked in frustration and looked around, noticing the window in their room was broken with its shattered glass glimmering on the floor.

Holly moved a little closer to the window with her bare feet and tried not to step on the shards of glass that were scattered on the floor. Her eyes wouldn't leave the window's direction and saw a pair of ill looking arms reaching inside.

"We have no idea" Holly heard Minho speak to Newt. "We just got startled that these Cranks broke the glass and wouldn't shut up. I guess those bars are quite useful"

"Cranks?"

"Yeah, that's what they call themselves. Zombies would be good too. Anyway, we tried going out but, the door leading to the mess hall is completely shut. And that Teresa girl vanished and a guy named Aris is the one we found in her room. I'm sure this is all WICKED's doing"

It sounded like the present Minho's warning in Holly's dream was starting to come true. But she had no idea how he'd done it. While the others continued with their conversation, Holly didn't realize that she had taken a step closer to the window already being curious as to what the owner of the ghastly arms looked like. Just then, a woman's face appeared behind the bars with a menacing smile that showed off her rotten teeth. She didn't have much hair and her entire face was covered in boils, her blood shot eyes darted around the room until she saw Holly and grabbed a hold of her hair tightly. Holly screamed and tried pulling off the hand that was yanking her hair.

"I want your pretty hair!" the Crank woman laughed menacingly, yanking her hair harder until she was banging Holly against the wall.

Newt and Minho quickly ran to her aid as soon as they heard her scream and the commotion made the other gladers go inside the room to see what was happening.

"Let go of her!" Newt shouted as he held onto Holly while Minho hit the arm of the crazy lady.

But the crank's grip was too tight that it was already causing Holly a lot of pain. Thomas searched the room and quickly ran inside to help. He picked up a sharp shard of broken glass and plunged it into the arm of the crank. Newt quickly pulled Holly away from the window as the crank let go of her hair and wailed in pain with her bloody arm. She ran in circles along with the other cranks, screaming and laughing like a lunatic.

Newt made Holly sit on one of the beds and noticed that her entire body was trembling. She had been in a lot of missions but nothing was too bizarre such as this one. It felt like it was a scene straight out of a horror movie and she couldn't help but cry and winced as Newt tried rubbing her head and fixed her hair. Thomas threw the bloody glass aside and walked to them, concerned.

"Are you okay?" Thomas bent down to her level, rubbing her back.

Holly was still in a state of shock with what just happened that no words came out of her mouth.

"She'll be alright" Newt answered for her.

"Let her stay in the common room" Minho said as he stood next to Thomas. "There are no windows there. The rest of us should go to Aris' room for a gathering for whatever's going on in this place"

"Good that" Thomas agreed and went out to tell the other gladers the plan.

Newt helped Holly up and took her to the spacious common room. There were no windows there so the screaming and craziness of the cranks would less be heard. He made her sit down on the couch and caught sight of Chuck going on his way to the new guy's room. Before he could even join for the gathering, Chuck heard Newt calling him. He made his way towards the tall blonde guy and gave Holly a worried look after he saw what had happened.

"Chuck, do me a favor and keep her company. Okay?" Newt said and patted the stubby boy's arm when he agreed. "I'll fill you in with whatever we'll talk about in the gathering" then he faced Holly. She had already stopped crying but was definitely still scared. "I'll stay with you later"

Chuck sat beside Holly and watched Newt walk to one of the bedrooms and closed the door. From where they were seated, they could only hear the muffled voices of the gladers in discussion and the faint sounds of the cranks outside the building.

"I'm sorry you had to miss the gathering because of me" Holly said, lifting her legs up on the couch and pulled them close to her chest, wiping the tears on her cheeks. She tried her best to relax since it wasn't like her to get scared easily or cry. But, she couldn't help but wonder about her dream that night and what just happened.

"Nah don't worry about it, I'm sure there's no good news with what they're talking about" Chuck laughed softly. "Yesterday seemed like it was just a dream" he sighed. He wished yesterday didn't end for it was the only time they had a normal life. "Do you think what's happening now is worse than in the glade?"

Holly shrugged. "I don't know, maybe"

"Sometimes I miss the glade. Do you?"

"I do. I enjoyed it there. Except the grievers and maze but, it was fun" and all of a sudden, she could picture the Glade—her daily routine in the Gardens, running after Minho around the courtyard, her storytelling moments with Newt by the bonfire, and everything else. She remembered Alby, Zart, Gally, and a few more who didn't make it with them. It broke her heart that she had to lose a few friends in the process.

Thirty minutes passed and the closed bedroom door finally clicked open as the gladers and the new guy Aris all went in the common room to get away from the noisy cranks. What they found out from Aris was completely mind-blowing that Thomas and the others had a hard time believing him at first. But in the end, they were all victims of WICKED which made all of them one group. Thomas came out of the room last and was carrying a small fire hydrant he found next to the dresser. They couldn't wait inside the room forever and needed a way to get out of the building surrounded by zombie like people.

Thomas started hitting the gold doorknob with the butt of the hydrant several times until it broke lose. He wiped his sweaty forehead with his forearm and stared at the broken knob that rolled on the floor and halted in front of his foot. Minho walked towards him and bent down to peek through the hole where the knob once was. He squint his eyes and didn't see anything in the mess hall but darkness. With no other options, Thomas and Minho decided to open the door. And like what Minho saw from the knob hole, total darkness. They walked along the dark room and the ones remaining in the room could hear a few grunts as the two would hit against something in the dark. Newt followed them as he remembered where he had seen the light switch the day before.

The gladers waited patiently with what their three leaders might find while Holly scrunched her nose and felt sick. She could smell something foul as if something rotting for weeks had been left in the vicinity that it made her stomach churn. Chuck and the others could smell the foul odor too and he looked at Holly's direction realizing that she didn't look too well.

"I found it!" Newt shouted before Chuck could even say a word to Holly.

As Newt turned on the switch, several fluorescent lights came to life and the gladers gasped in horror. Holly and Chuck looked with their eyes wide in horror. Their rescuers from the day before were hanging on the ceiling with ropes around their necks that made their skin purple. One of the dead bodies had his bulging eyes open and staring straight at Holly's direction. Newt quickly turned around when he heard the stubby boy's alarmed voice. He hurried back to the common room and found Holly on the floor, unconscious.

Several minutes later, Holly woke up in a daze. She saw the white ceiling above her and the sounds of machines. She looked around and saw no gladers inside. In fact, the room looked completely different. She jolted upright and realized there were wires attached on her arms and her head. She was inside the TAIMN pod, back at the headquarters in present time. Just as she was wondering why she was back in the present time a woman, a clock master, walked in wearing a lab coat and held a folder.

"Is something wrong?" Holly asked and tried to recall if she got herself critically injured. But when she looked at the computer screen of the Watcher, a green light was lit up meaning she wasn't in any danger.

The female clock master shook her head and smiled. "Oh don't worry, nothing is wrong. It's just that the research team successfully finished a new device and wanted it tested"

She pulled out a black band from her coat's pocket and handed it to Holly. It looked like a typical fitbit but had an orange button on the screen.

"What does it do?" Holly asked as she wore it around her left wrist.

"The orange button serves as a signal. If you've completed the task, you don't have to go back to the place where you found yourself when you woke up in the start of the mission. You just have to press the button and you'll be back home"

"Okay, thanks. Uhm, where's Jake and Minho?" she was slightly relieved to be back home right after dreaming about them and took the opportunity to ask about their whereabouts.

"Hm, Mr. Adams is having a meeting with the researchers and Minho is doing his own mission" she pointed at another TAIMN pod that was being used and Holly was happy to see a glimpse of the unconscious Minho inside of it. "Anymore question?"

"Oh no, I'm good now"

"Very well, please lie back down and we'll send you back to your mission. Good luck"

Holly grunted and began to regain consciousness when she felt something cold and damp against her forehead and cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open and saw Newt sitting next to her dabbing a wet cloth on her face which actually helped her relax. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again.

"Finally, you're awake" Newt said in relief.

"What happened?" she muttered even though she knew too well what had happened.

"I don't know. Chuck told me you both saw the hanging bodies of the people who rescued us and all of a sudden you fainted"

Holly remembered that part. The sight of the dead bodies hanging on the ceiling was mortifying for anyone, especially for young people like them. She thought the Maze was too much but didn't realize WICKED could do so much more. Not only did it test their physical strength but also their mentality. She began to wonder how her best friend or any other gladers managed to go through it all without going crazy.

"I was really surprised to see those" she said truthfully.

"I know but, we have to keep moving forward" Newt replied confidently. "WICKED is doing this for us to give up. But we have to prove them wrong. You're the bravest girl I know, I know you can fight it off. We've been dealing with a lot of deaths lately but, life goes on. And need I remind you, you have me. You have to be strong."

Holly opened her eyes once again and reached for his hand. "Thank you for always being there" she said, pulling his hand close to her.

"But are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm just tired, that's all. I'll be fine in a few hours"

"Get all the rest you need" Newt leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

Newt went back to the common room to make plans with Minho and Thomas about their next steps while Holly remained silent in bed. She quickly grabbed her purple backpack under the bed and opened it, taking the small black notebook again. She flipped the pages until she found the picture. She stared at it, her bright cheerful self along with her brother and best friend. She felt relieved when she saw a glimpse of Minho inside a TAIMN pod when she went back to the present time but, she was still wondering what her dream was about. And how was it that Minho seemed to have talked to her directly? Were they having telepathic communication? She sighed and looked at the photo again hoping that nothing bad was happening to them and that it was all just a dream.


	6. Chapter 5

No food or rescue came to them that night. Thomas had suggested that they could just drink water from the sink to ease the hunger until they find a way to get out of the building. Gladers went to their respective rooms and decided to just sleep instead of thinking about food. Some of them were losing hope because for a small building, they couldn't even find a door that would lead them outside and the windows were barred. The cranks were already gone and a cold breeze came through the broken windows making the rooms colder. Newt just got back to his room after talking to Thomas and Minho and found the room empty. He saw the bathroom door open and could hear the shower from where he was standing. He approached the bathroom and peeked inside to see Holly seated on the shower floor hugging her legs and just let the water fall over her. She didn't bother moving but from the corner of her eye, she knew Newt was there.

"Can I join you?" he asked with a voice so gentle and calm.

A smile formed on Holly's face then slowly nodded her head. Newt took his clothes off, tossing it to the corner where Holly's clothes were lying, and entered the shower. The water was warm and relaxing when he sat down beside her, pushing his bangs back. For a brief moment they were silent. They didn't have much to talk about since they have been isolated in the place for almost a day now with nothing new to do. Newt reached for her hand, pulling it close and kissed her knuckles. He could tell that Holly was still tired with the events of the day and accompanying her was the best solution to comfort her.

"Feeling alright?" he asked, rubbing his thumb at the back of her smooth hand.

"Yeah, I'm alright" Holly said with a smile. She looked at Newt and decided to change the subject. "That Aris guy. What did you find out from him?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't at the gathering" he remembered then sighed as he recalled the story the new guy shared. "It's bloody messed up, WICKED is. He had the same experience as us—Glade, Maze, Grievers, Telepathic skills like Thomas and Teresa. It's pretty wild. Except in his group, he was the only boy and he was surrounded by girls. A girl that seemed to represent Gally also appeared with a gun and tried shooting him. His friend shielded him and died. That was the one of the differences. If you didn't stop Gally at the moment, he could've killed Chuck"

Holly kept quiet and registered everything in her mind. He was right. If it wasn't for her or the tips she had read in the notebook Chuck would've been left in the Maze's location, dead with a bullet on his chest.

"What was another difference?" she asked again.

"They only had one boy. Compared in our group, we have two girls. You and Teresa. But whatever, the main point is we all suffered the same thing. They snatched our identities and locked us up in that bloody maze"

She took a deep breath and could feel Newt rubbing her hand gently despite his tone getting angrier at the thought of WICKED's, well, wicked experiments. She looked at him and thought of the notebook. Several times she was tempted to tell Newt who she really was and why she was there to make her task easier. She wanted to show him the notebook and tell him that she had a few answers in there that could actually save them.

"Newt" she started with a soft voice, trying to find the right words she needed. "Do…do you trust me?"

Newt slightly raised an eyebrow, curious. "Of course I do. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious"

"Don't tell me the syringe of medicine you gave me before was actually poison and I'd die in a few minutes"

"Wha—no! I wouldn't do anything like that to you" she answered back and felt hurt with what he said that she couldn't help but frown.

Newt leaned closer and pecked her lips before he smiled. "I was messing with you. I know you wouldn't do that to me"

"I don't think WICKED is done with us yet" was all Holly could share, not able to let him know who she really was.

"I figured that out" Newt sighed and pulled her closer for a hug. He rested his chin atop her head which smelled like sweet berries, and continued. "But we're going to make it. We'll show them that we could go through whatever bloody experiment they give us. And when we see those bastards, we're going to make them pay"

Holly nodded especially about the last part. She wanted to make them pay, each one of them, for ruining the lives of the gladers and for destroying the entire human race actually. She became less stressed and her energy slowly came back, determined to fight no matter what for Newt and her friends.

"Do you remember our plan when things are bloody done with WICKED?" Newt spoke again.

Holly looked up at him, blushing. "We'll spend the rest of our lives together"

"Good that" he grinned. "And that's a promise I'm willing to keep"

"I love you so much" she whispered and hugged him tight, not wanting to let him go.

"I love you too just as much, Holly" he replied sincerely, rubbing her back.

"Speaking of medicine" she started and pulled away from the hug to face him. "How are you feeling?" she never needed the vaccine when the flare had spread and wondered what its effect was.

"I feel pretty good" Newt nodded and tried to remember if there were any changes since she gave him the medicine in a syringe. "Nothing changed that much but I feel so much better and full of energy"

"That's good to know" she smiled. She was completely thrilled that the medicine seemed to have worked on him before the flare virus took control of his brain.

"Well, let's get back to the room" Newt stood up and closed the shower. "We might turn into a prune if we stay too long"

He held both Holly's hands and pulled her up. Holly squeezed her hair getting rid of the excess water and thanked Newt when he handed her a clean white towel. She dabbed it on her cheeks and body before wrapping it around her chest and walked out of the bathroom. They both stood in front of the dresser and picked out the clothes they were going to wear for the night. Holly slipped on a pair of pink underwear and would giggle whenever she and Newt glanced at each other. She finished her look with a yellow tank top and blue cotton shorts then made her way to the bed while Newt wore a pair of blue pajama pants and a white sleeveless top. Newt joined Holly in bed and was somehow happy that WICKED had let them keep the beds and shower. He wasn't sleepy just yet and wanted to spend some quality time with Holly like they used to at the Glade by the bonfire.

Newt was gazing at the ceiling and chuckled when Holly decided to lay on top of him with a childish grin on her face. He didn't complain and simply wrapped his arms around her slender waist. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead when all of a sudden they heard a loud thud on the wall coming from the neighboring room. At first they were worried but later on, they heard Chuck's faint laughter and Minho cursing. They were either playing around or Minho did something clumsy that the other gladers laughed at him. Holly brought her attention back to Newt and suddenly noticed something on the side of his neck.

"What's that?" she asked, carefully touching the blank ink printed on his neck.

"Some sort of tattoo" Newt answered not really caring what it was for or how it appeared there. "I just noticed it earlier when someone pointed it out as well"

"Property of WICKED. Group A. Subject A5. The Glue?"

"According to Thomas, I might be called the glue because I hold everyone together"

"He's not wrong though, you do keep everyone together especially when someone is losing hope" she smiled.

Newt smiled back and peeked at the corner of her neck. "You don't have one?"

"No, I don't" she suddenly felt worried. If she didn't have the tattoo, sooner or later someone from WICKED would find out she wasn't a part of the trials.

"It doesn't matter" Newt suddenly spoke, tucking her wet hair behind her ear. "It's not important anyway and at least they didn't brand you as their property"

"You're right" but it didn't really made the uneasiness go away.

He hugged her again. "It's been a while since you've told me stories about yourself. Mind sharing some more? I do enjoy bedtime stories"

Holly giggled at his cuteness. She began to tell him a story about him and Jake on their journey of buying their very first flat at the new city they were living in. It wasn't much of an exciting story but, it was something Holly liked and remembered. She went on and on that night until both she and Newt drifted to sleep.


	7. Chapter 6

_Holly found herself in an empty white hallway that looked like a hospital's. It was quiet. It was cold. No one was around and she didn't know why she was there in the first place. She looked left and right, wondering which direction she would go to. All of a sudden, she saw someone appear at the end of the right side of the hallway wearing a white laboratory coat._

 _It was Jake._

 _She wanted to think that she was back at the TAIMN building but the hallway didn't seem too familiar. But nonetheless she was there and her brother was there, smiling at her. The same smile that often made her at ease. That was all that mattered. She was definitely happy to see him again after a long exhausting mission. Just as she was about to take a step forward to give her brother a hug, armed men appeared from behind and grabbed her. She looked confused and scared having no idea why she was being taken away. She squirmed and jerked around doing her best to get away from their clutches but it was no use. The men kept dragging her away. She called out for her brother to save her but Jake didn't move. He just stood there in the middle of the hallway with a sad smile on his face._

 _Then she saw a group of men standing behind her brother—armed as the ones dragging her away. Her eyes widened as the armed men got their guns ready. Almost ten guns fired at once, its empty shells dropping on the floor and its loud bangs echoed through the hallway. The bullets went through Jake's body until he spat out blood and dropped to the floor on the pool of his own blood. He remained still. Silent. Dead._

 _Holly felt like her last breath escaped her body at the sight of her older brother's lifeless one. Her brother, the only family she had left, was dead. She screamed and cried frantically calling out his name again and again. She didn't want to believe it. But there was no response. She tried her hardest to free herself from the men and run to her brother but nothing seemed to happen. They continued to drag her away as she wailed and looked at the once white hallway now covered with blood and Jake's lifeless body on the ground._

"Holly!"

Her eyes snapped wide open. They were clouded with tears and she was breathing heavily with Newt looking down at her worriedly. She found herself in bed at the middle of the night with cold sweat. No white hallway. No armed men. No dead Jake. It was all a bad dream.

"You were screaming and kicking" he explained, wiping the tears on her cheeks.

The door quickly opened with Thomas, Minho, and Chuck still in their pajamas looking worried. Their room was just next to theirs and Holly's scream might've woken them up.

"Is everything alright?" Thomas asked, his eyes on Holly who just sat up and was taking a deep breath.

"Y-yeah" she stuttered and sniffled. "I was just having a bad dream"

"That scared me to death, I thought a crank got in" Chuck sighed.

"Sorry to disturb you guys"

"It's alright. We'll leave you with Newt then" Minho said and told Thomas and Chuck to follow him back to their room.

"Lock the door as you close it, Tommy" Newt called out before the door closed.

Thomas pressed the center of the knob until it made a clicking sound and closed it shut. Newt got up and headed to the bathroom, filling up a glass with fresh water. He came back offering the glass of water to Holly and sat down next to her then rubbed her back soothingly. Holly gulped down the water until the glass was empty. She took a deep breath, feeling slightly calm compared to minutes ago.

"If you want, you can share with me what scared you" Newt said after placing the empty glass on the floor.

Holly sniffled again and fiddled with her fingers. "I dreamt about Jake" she said, recalling the horrific nightmare she just had. "Then there were a group of armed men who just started shooting him and—"

She wasn't able to continue as she once again broke into tears. She couldn't understand why she was having nightmares all of a sudden. Had WICKED find a way to manipulate her head or are they just that, bad dreams? Newt pulled her into his arms, hushing her as he started to rub her back.

"There there, it's alright" he whispered, lying back down with Holly still in his arms. "It's just a dream. I'm sure he's okay"

"I-I'm scared" Holly choked and stained Newt's shirt with her tears. "What if he really is in danger?"

"Sssh, it's all in your head. I'm sure WICKED is just doing something to mess with you. Take a deep breath, things will be fine. I promise"

Holly did as she was told. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to relax in Newt's arms. She tried clearing her mind off of negative things and focused on the gentle hand rubbing her back in circular motion. Her body began to feel less tensed and compressed herself close to Newt to make her feel safe. Newt pulled the blanket over them and held her close. It was the first time he'd seen her have a nightmare and he felt sad with how terrified Holly was. He had no idea if Jake was really okay but saying that he was was the only thing Newt could say to ease her. He looked down at her and realized that she'd fallen back to sleep. Tears glimmered on her long eyelashes and her nose was red from all the sniffling. But other than that, she seemed to look calm and peaceful. He hugged her tightly and in a few moments, joined her back in a deep slumber. 


	8. Chapter 7

Holly was up early the next day and stood in front of the broken window with her arms folded over her chest. She stared at the window for a while, wondering when and how a brick wall appeared behind the bar steels. She couldn't see anything outside nor feel a bit of fresh air secluding them in that building. She heard gladers from the other rooms complain about the same thing. She drew a deep breath and realized that wondering wasn't useful especially about any stuff related to WICKED. Anything about that organization was messed up. While she rubbed her temple, someone knocked at the door.

"It's open" she called out and turned around to see who it was.

The door slightly opened with a head peeking in. It was the younger version of her boss, Thomas, smiling at her.

"You got a minute?" he asked shyly.

"Well, there's nothing really to do" Holly laughed and sat on the bed in a lotus position. "Come in"

And so did Thomas. He quietly closed the door behind him and sat down across her. He looked at the closed bathroom door and could hear that the shower was open.

"You didn't join him today?" he asked teasingly.

Holly blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear, and shook her head. "Uh, no, I wanted to sleep some more"

"Oh right, how are you feeling? We really got worried when we heard you screaming"

"I feel much better now, thanks for asking" she smiled sincerely. "I guess I was too tired that my mind started playing tricks on me. How about you? What's up?"

"Nothing really" he shrugged and flashed Holly a friendly smile. "I just felt like it's been a while since we last talked"

"Oh yeah. Somehow life in the Glade seemed easier, huh?"

"I know" Thomas said then sighed while fiddling with his fingers, reminiscing about life at the Glade. "Sometimes I wonder if staying there was a better idea"

"I'm sure it's not. Anything related to WICKED doesn't involve anything good. A better idea is getting out of here and finishing them once and for all"

"I actually don't know what to do anymore" he sighed.

Back in the Glade, the two of them had enough time to talk to one another. When they were done working at the gardens they would either sit under the big sturdy tree or back at the homestead in their own hammocks, talking about whatever. Holly somewhat became Thomas' confidant. Despite having Minho, Newt, Chuck, Alby, and Teresa as friends Holly was someone who never doubted him even once. She was always ready to support him.

Holly got up and decided to sit beside Thomas. "Are you scared?" she asked.

Thomas looked straight into her eyes and nodded. He'd been scared since the moment he found himself in the Glade and even more scared when Gally almost shot him and Chuck. He just wanted everything to end. He didn't want anyone else to die or be put into danger.

"Don't worry, I'm scared too" she whispered, pulling Thomas' head to rest on her shoulder.

"What should I do? I can't even talk to Teresa" he mumbled.

"You can't?"

"No" Thomas frowned, his eyes staring down on his hands. "I'm worried that WICKED might've done something to her"

Holly stroked his head gently. "Shh, don't overthink too much. It wouldn't help"

It was easy for her to comfort somebody else but deep inside, she was still worried about her previous dream. She couldn't stop thinking about Jake and Minho even though she's supposed to concentrate on helping the gladers.

"Stay strong" she spoke again. "Remember that you're not alone. We're a whole group here and we all want the same thing—to get out of here. In the meantime while we're in this building, we have to gather all the strength we need for whatever WICKED has in store for us"

"That is if we'll ever survive without having any food"

"We still have water. Sooner or later, I'm sure we'll find food"

Thomas had a whiff of berries from Holly's hair as he took a deep breath and smiled. He sat upright to face her.

"Thanks for listening to my randomness" he said and gave her a friendly hug.

Holly hugged him back and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "You're always welcome to come see me for a talk. Although, why didn't you just talk to Minho or Chuck? I'm sure they'll be willing to listen as well"

"Minho tends to blurt out sarcastic remarks and Chuck can be as negative as I am. I need someone who'll push me forward and that's either you or Newt. The two of you help me a lot with your kind words. I appreciate it."

"Like I said, you're always welcome"

"On a different and less depressing topic, Newt had told me several times about his future plans" a sly grin formed on Thomas' lips.

Holly looked at him curiously, wondering what Newt could've told him. "What plan is that?"

"About you guys living together after all these has ended"

"Oh that!" Holly's cheeks turned crimson then she laughed. "Yeah, that's already set in stone. Of course, you guys will still be a part of our lives. We'll have afternoon teas talking about the hardships we've been through and next chapters of our lives. I'm sure it would be fun after all of this is done"

"Well at least I have something good to look forward to" he grinned. "And of course I would be there. You're basically my family. We all are"

As they continued with their little chat, the bathroom door opened. Newt stepped out with his wet blonde hair tousled and a white towel wrapped around his waist. He was startled to see Thomas sitting on the bed with Holly, not expecting to see him in the room at all.

"Well, I should go" Thomas said quickly and headed for the door. "Thanks for your time again"

"Yeah, no problem" she waved with a smile and watched the door close.

When they were alone, Newt grabbed clean clothes from the dresser and approached Holly. He slipped a pair of boxers underneath the towel and a pair of black pants before sitting beside her.

"What was Tommy doing here?" he asked curiously, pulling off the towel and draped it over his head.

"He just wanted to talk" Holly replied. "Said that it's been a while since we sat down and chitchat"

"He's missing spending time with you already?"

Holly nudged him with a suspicious look. "Don't tell me you're jealous over your own best friend"

"I don't think Tommy would try to steal you from me. He's got that Teresa" he chuckled then pushed her hair back to see a glimpse of a faded love mark on her neck. "Like he said, you're mine"

Holly tackled him down on the bed laying on top him, showering kisses all over his face. She still couldn't believe that she was Newt's girlfriend. She never really imagined herself being in a relationship but there she was, doing things she had never done before with the one she loves. Newt caressed her cheek and felt a rush of blood in his cheeks making him feel hot. Like Holly's thoughts, he couldn't believe it either that a beautiful girl such as her was his. He had been trapped inside the Glade for two years without any memory and no contact with the opposite sex. Then all of a sudden, she came along and changed his miserable life. A really small part of him was thankful to WICKED for letting him meet the girl he'd want to spend the rest of his life with.

"Say, if you were to get married in the future to a, I don't know, some buggin' blonde shank maybe, how many children would you like to have?" he asked out of the blue with a sheepish grin.

"W-what?!" Holly's voice was kind of high and loud, completely surprised with the question that she just laughed. At present time not once did she ever talk about kids and she clearly remembered her sixteen year old self neither.

"Why are you so surprised?" he also laughed.

"W-well, you're suddenly talking about children!" she blushed and rolled to the bed lying on her side to face him.

"I'm not saying to have one soon" he cleared things out. "But someday in the future when everything is alright, how many do you want?"

Holly was quiet for a while and thought about it. She did like children but, she hadn't gotten to the point of thinking having her own. But now that she had Newt and planned on living with him in the future, it didn't seem bad to plan about future children.

"Hmm three" she answered shyly.

"Three?" he chuckled and looked at her curiously, wanting to hear more about what she had to say.

"Yeah, I think three children would be great. Two older boys and the youngest would be a girl. I can imagine that the two boys would be like you and Minho always bickering"

Newt laughed and could also imagine that that would be the case if they did have two boys. "Three children doesn't sound bad"

"How about you, how many do you want?"

"Maybe ten" Newt teased.

"Ten?!" Holly had hit him playfully on the chest and laughed.

They spent the whole day locked in their temporary bedroom talking about their future together. They talked about baby names, painting their own house together, going on picnics, buying their very first pet, etc. For that whole day, they forgot about WICKED. They had a piece of normalcy even if it was for a short while and it felt good.


	9. Chapter 8

Holly lost track of the day already. It must've been two or three days since they last had something to eat. Her stomach was growling when she had woken up that morning wishing there was something she could eat. She looked at the young blonde sleeping beside her that had a pained expression. Just like her, Newt was hungry. Everyone else was hungry. As she tied her hair up, she heard something outside the room that seemed to be the screeching sound of a chair being pulled. She quietly got up as not to disturb Newt from his sleep and left the room. The common room was vacant and she didn't see any chair in that room at all or any other glader for that matter. She turned to the door with the broken knob and was surprised to see light coming from the other side of the room. She gathered up all her courage and walked to the door, slowly pushing it wide open.

She didn't know when or how but, the hanging dead bodies of the rescuers were gone. On the long table of the mess hall were all sorts of foods—fruits, vegetables, bags of nuts, and granola bars. There were piles of it that would seem to last for an entire week. She glanced at the corner when she'd seen movement. She found a long desk that wasn't there before and behind it sat a man in all-white attire with his attention on the book he was reading. She tried to remember what she had read on the notebook and remembered Minho's note about him. The man was named Janson but, Minho referred to him as Rat Man because that was what he looked like—a rat.

She quietly walked towards the man and she was startled that something seemed to stop her from reaching him. She put her hand forward and realized there was some sort of invisible barrier between them that's why Rat Man didn't seem alarmed at all if someone tried to mob him.

"One hour to go until I can give any instructions" Rat Man suddenly spoke without taking his eyes off of the book he was reading. "Take the time to eat and be quiet"

Holly scoffed. That wasn't the kind of thing she wanted to hear especially after getting out of the maze, being attacked by a crank, and getting isolated in a building with hanging dead people with no food. She rolled her hands into fists and tried to calm herself but deep inside, she wanted to break whatever barrier was between them and punch the guy.

"Still trying to kill us with new experiments?" she asked with a disgusted look.

Rat Man didn't speak and continued to read, ignoring her presence. Holly was ticked off and folded her arms across her chest without moving from where she stood. Her feelings were beginning to boil inside of her knowing that the man right in front of her was one of the few who caused all the chaos they were going through. She might not have taken part on the original experiment but, she too had lost loved ones when the flare made a breakthrough. She looked at the man calmly but at the same time her eyes were burning with hatred.

"WICKED isn't helping anyone, you know" she finally spoke again but Rat Man didn't pay attention. "You're all better off dead. I'm pretty sure the entire world would love to see you go down—" but still, he did not pay any attention to her and pretended she wasn't even there. "—especially when they find out that you people are the cause of the Flare and the reason half the human race is dying"

The last part finally got Rat Man's attention. He closed the book he was reading and looked up at her with a stern look but, Holly knew he got surprised when she saw him slightly twitched. He stood up from his chair and slowly walked towards the young girl, his hands clasped behind him, with only the invisible wall standing between them. He eyed her from head to toe, wondering who she was and noticed that she didn't have a WICKED mark on her neck. For a moment, Holly thought it might've not been a wise idea she told him the last part since no one from the Glade knew about it yet. But Holly stood tall without showing any fear and gave him a cold look.

"Who are you?" Rat Man asked curiously but with a blank dull expression.

Holly clicked her tongue and shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me. I mean you should know since _you_ put me here for the bloody experiments. But there is one thing you should know" her voice was threatening and cold. "I'm the one who's going to end all of you"

"Who's that?" Holly heard Minho's voice coming from behind.

The gladers were finally awake. Some of them were as curious as Minho to know who the guy was and some were staring at the food on the table. Rat Man took one final glance at Holly then went back to his seat, looking at his watch before opening the book to the page where he left off.

"Fifty five minutes until I give further instructions. Feel free to eat to your heart's desire" was all Rat Man replied to Minho without even looking at him.

"Why this stupid rat face" Minho mumbled.

Minho was annoyed knowing that the man was probably working for WICKED but before Holly could warn him about the invisible barrier he already charged towards rat man's direction and hit his face until he fell to the ground with a grunt. Holly helped him up and Newt came along to help as well while looking at Holly worriedly.

"Did he say anything to you?" he asked.

Holly shook her head and lied. "Nothing useful at all. Come on, let's just go eat"

Since Fry Pan had been the Keeper of the Cooks back in the Glade, he decided he would be in charge of the food once again so it wouldn't run out fast. He gave each glader an equal amount of fruit, vegetable, nuts, and a granola bar. Holly lost her appetite after seeing Rat Man and gave her share of vegetable and nuts to Chuck while she kept her apple and granola bar in case she wanted to eat later on. Just like Holly, Thomas looked at their host curiously and wanted to know who he was and what he was planning to do. They wanted answers so badly. An hour later, the gladers were done eating and was quietly seated in front of Rat Man waiting for whatever instruction or announcement he was about to give.

Rat Man looked at his watch again and put his book aside to grab a folder from his desk. He fixed the papers inside of it and cleared his throat before he began to speak. He started off by explaining the importance of the Maze. After that, he talked about sun flares and the flare virus whilst glancing at Holly's direction from time to time. But Holly didn't say a word. She sat quietly between Newt and Chuck at the back munching on her apple without showing any signs of interest with whatever jibber jabber Rat Man was saying. Rat Man continued and talked about being a representative of WICKED and that they were now about to start phase two by going to the Scorch with the use of the Flat Trans which will appear between 6:00-6:05 a.m. the next day. The gladers had to go through the Scorch to reach the Safe Haven to get the flare cure and to finish the trials once and for all.

Rat Man flinched from his seat when a loud thud banged from the invisible barrier. The gladers turned around and realized that Holly threw the core of the apple directly at the barrier, hoping it would go through and hit the man on the face. Newt didn't seem pleased with what she just did but Minho looked like a proud father who just taught his daughter how to ride a bike. Rat Man gave her another stern look, still wondering who she was. He reminded them that the Flat Trans would appear tomorrow at exactly 6:00 a.m. and that they only had five minutes to get in. After giving his them his instructions, he disappeared behind the wall and so was the barrier.

There were buzzing across the room. The gladers didn't understand a majority of what Rat Man said and started to panic. Thomas and Minho stood up to settle them down and decided to make a plan for their next task. Newt stood up as well, dusting off his pants, and looked down at Holly.

"Come on, we need to talk" he said with a serious tone and walked back to the bedroom while the others were making plans.

Holly sighed and got up; quietly entering the bedroom she shared with him and sat on the bed. She looked up and saw Newt closed the door before walking towards her. She felt nervous, like a little girl who was about to get scolded for being naughty. Newt paced back and forth while biting his lip, looking at Holly who kept her gaze down on the floor. He stopped walking and folded his arms.

"I know you're smart and tough but, what the bloody hell were you thinking?" he asked with a calm yet angry tone.

Holly didn't dare look at him and fiddled with her fingers muttering, "I didn't do anything wrong. I was just annoyed" she knew that Rat Man was lying. There was no safe haven, there was no cure. Just more tests.

"We all are. All of us here want to bloody kick their arses but, our lives are still at risk. They have a way of controlling us like we're their puppets. And you pissed off that shank, what if he decides to harm you?"

"Then don't come too close to me, the lot of you, if they're going to target me" the fighter in the TAIMN traveler came back, showing no fear if anything dangerous was coming her way. It was a part of her job after all and the reason she trained herself in martial arts and gun shooting. And if WICKED chose to make her the target, it would be easier for her to get the others to safety.

But Newt was thinking the opposite. He sat down next to her and playfully flicked her forehead that made Holly groan. "I'm not abandoning you" he sighed and caressed her cheek. "I'll protect you no matter what happens. I just don't want you getting in more trouble as we are now"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking" Holly whispered and gave him a tight hug.

As they hugged one another, they didn't realize that the door was open and that Minho was leaning against the frame of the door with arms folded across his chest.

"Aww, how sweet" he teased with a big grin on his face.

Minho sat on the bed across them giving Holly a wide grin and a thumb's up. He'd always liked Holly's attitude but, he liked it the most when she threw the apple core towards Rat Man in frustration. He was sad that it didn't go through to smash his face but he told her that there would always be a next time. Holly smiled to herself, happy that Minho was proud of what she did. Newt, on the other hand, kicked Minho on the leg with a discreet look and told him not to encourage Holly to act like a shank like he was. Minho just rolled his eyes and lay comfortably on the bed flexing his arms under his head.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Newt asked. Obviously Minho wasn't just there to bother him and Holly.

"We came up with a plan"


	10. Chapter 9

The couple was sitting still on the bed, with their eyes fixed on the guy lying on the vacant bed next to theirs. Minho said that they'd thought of a plan and Newt and Holly were eager to know what it was. But Minho remained silent with his eyes closed as if he had drifted to sleep.

"Well, spit it out" Newt kicked the bed Minho was on, losing his patience already. "Don't bloody waste our time"

Minho grunted in frustration and started explaining the plan with his eyes still closed.

"See these blankets?" he grabbed the one he was lying on. "We're going to use it as bags and stuff it with food so we can bring it in our travel. Fry Pan is already in the mess hall distributing equal shares of the food. For the water, we'll get some from the sink and fill it in plastic bags "

"Can we bring some of the clothes?" Holly asked curiously and pointed at the dresser.

Minho opened an eye and was surprised. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that. Good that, we should also bring a few clothes with us"

"Okay, I'll go get my supply of food first" She said with a grin.

Holly got up from the bed and took the clean blanket from one of the vacant beds and left the two guys to get her own supply of food. Fry Pan was shouting at a few gladers when Holly arrived at the mess hall. He was too busy handing out an equal share of food to them when some would sneakily take an apple or two.

"These guys make me want to slap them" He muttered, handing Holly her set of food. They were actually a lot—three apples, three bananas, five carrots, two cucumbers, six bags of nuts, and ten granola bars.

"Don't stress yourself out" Holly told him with a smile and cradled her blanket of food.

"I'll try" he grinned then hit Winston's head who was trying to sneak another banana. "Dammit Winston, I already gave you yours!"

Holly went to the common room and sat down on the floor with legs spread out, fixing her supply of food neatly on the blanket before tying it to form the shape of a bag. As she was busy minding her own business, two guys joined her with their own supply of food. Thomas and Chuck. Holly smiled at the sight of them and somehow felt proud. She knew that Chuck was one of Thomas' best friends and she was happy she was able to save the stubby boy whose life was supposed to end at the maze.

"Uh, what does your tattoo say?" Thomas asked out of the blue and tried to take a glance at her neck.

For a moment Holly was confused until she remembered seeing a tattoo printed on Newt's neck. "I don't have one" she confessed and somehow felt like an outcast.

"That's weird" Chuck said, eating a few pieces of nuts from his share and looked at her curiously. "Maybe WICKED thinks you're no good for them"

"Well, I'd take that as a compliment" Holly laughed.

"I can write one for you" Thomas said as he pulled out a marker from his pocket. "I got this back from the Glade in case I felt like writing" he added when Holly gave him a questioning look.

The young Thomas moved closer beside Holly and pulled the cap of the black marker. Holly tilted her head to give him access to her neck and flinched at the contact of the cold tip of the marker and her skin. Thomas had to tell her to stay still several times as he concentrated on writing on her smooth bare skin. But Holly couldn't help it; it tickled her very much that she giggled at every stroke of the pen. Chuck stood behind Thomas, but not too close making sure he wasn't blocking the light, and then squint his eyes so he could read what he wrote. Thomas grinned at his work and had put the cap back on the marker and placed it back inside his pocket.

Holly smiled at the two of them, glad that the torturous ticklish feeling had ended and looked at her young boss with curious eyes.

"Well, what did you write?" she asked and touched the area where he'd written something.

Chuck could finally get a good look of what was written and grinned at Thomas for his cleverness. He faced Holly with the same grin he flashed to Thomas and replied, "Property of Newt"

Fry Pan clapped his hands as loudly as he could to be heard all the way from the mess hall. He shouted that they'll be eating supper in a few minutes before they could go to sleep. Holly kissed Thomas on the cheek as a thank you for her tattoo and stood up with her bag of foods and disappeared back to her assigned bedroom to show it off. Inside the bedroom, she saw Newt seated on his bed folding a few clothes he had picked to bring. She also found Minho still lying on the other bed, asleep.

"He's still here?" she whispered as soon as she sat down beside Newt.

Newt folded the last shirt and looked at Minho's direction with a crooked smile. "Yeah, you want me to make him bloody leave?"

"Well, it's okay if he's here" she explained. "But there is something I want to show you and he'll probably just make snarky remarks"

"Alright" Newt grinned. "Make him leave it is"

He grabbed the pillow behind him and threw it at the sleeping glader. Minho groaned as the fluffy pillow hit him directly on the face and opened his eyes to see Newt and Holly looking at him.

"What the shuck. Why'd you do that?" Minho complained and rubbed his face in annoyance that his sleep got cut off.

"You. Out" Newt said as simple as that and pointed at the open door with his thumb.

"Tsk, make me" Minho dared and hugged the pillow thrown at him then looked at the couple with a grin.

Newt rolled his eyes and sighed. "If you say so" he pulled Holly close to him and licked her cheek.

"Aw man, gross!" Minho whined and scrambled up to his feet and threw his arms up in the air. "No way am I staying here to see you two getting all dirty"

He marched outside the room and closed the door behind him. Newt laughed heartily at his friend's reaction and at Holly's shocked embarrassed face.

"W-why'd you do something like that in front of him?" She stuttered and wiped her cheek with her shirt.

"Well, you wanted him to leave" he chuckled and rested his arm over his knee. "So, what is it you want to show me that you don't want Minho to know?"

"It's not a big deal but, Thomas made something for me" she tilted her head slightly and giggled while Newt read the words _Property of Newt_ out loud.

Newt touched the black words printed on her neck and couldn't hide his satisfaction. He was completely happy that Thomas perfectly knew exactly what was to be written. He pushed her down on the bed not caring if the clothes he had neatly folded got creased. He wanted her so badly at the moment, wanted to do her right then and there. Just as he was about to lean down and kiss her, the door opened again. Newt grunted, thinking that it was Minho who'd want to bother them again but realized that it was Thomas. He was holding onto the doorknob with a sheepish smile once he realized he interrupted them in the middle of something.

"Is this a bad time?" Thomas asked with an apologetic smile.

Holly quickly sat up in embarrassment and fixed her ponytail while Newt smiled at him. "It's alright, Tommy. We were just talking"

"You two talk in a weird way" he teased. "Anyway, supper is ready. We should eat early so we'll have plenty of time to sleep before we leave tomorrow"

"Good that"

Holding each other's hand, the couple left the room along with Thomas. When they entered the mess hall, they found the gladers and Aris quietly seated on their respective places and eating their supper that consisted of fruits and raw vegetables. There were chitchats and laughter here and there but it could also be felt in the air that they were nervous about the so called next trial. Thomas left them to accompany Chuck and they found a vacant seat beside Minho who was eyeing them. Clearly, he hadn't gotten over what he witnessed a few minutes ago.

"Hello, Mr. Grumpy" Holly teased and playfully kissed Minho's cheek as soon as she sat down beside him and ate a slice of cucumber.

Minho groaned and made a disgusted look while he concentrated on eating his apple. "Ugh, I love you too but I'd prefer you keep your lips to Newt. I feel like he's kissing me too"

Newt took a seat beside Holly and popped a few nuts in his mouth then grinned. "Don't flatter yourself. I won't buggin' kiss you in a million years"

"Well thank you for the head's up"

They continued to eat and joked around, teasing one another, and laughed. But after a while, their topic changed into a more serious one.

"I really have no idea" Newt said when Minho asked what the Scorch or Flat Trans would look like. "But the sooner we get on with it, the faster we face the bastards"

"What if we bump onto a group of those cranks?" Minho asked quietly that it was only the three of them could hear their conversation.

Holly felt goose bumps on her arms and at the back of her neck at the mention of cranks. She remembered the horrifying physique of the lady crank who grabbed her a few days before. It scared her to death and she was sure that she didn't want to see more of them. All of a sudden, she felt a gentle hand rubbing her back to comfort her uneasy feeling. She turned to her left and realized that it was Newt. He could tell whether Holly was feeling good or not.

"We'll fight every last bit of them if we ever see them outside" he simply said.

The gladers left their mess and headed back to their own rooms. Some of them took a quick bath, some headed straight to bed, and some were making sure that they packed everything they would need. Their temporary good life was coming to a close for tomorrow would be the start of another hellish experience.


	11. Chapter 10

The purple backpack and two blankets stuffed with food were properly aligned on the floor near the locked bedroom door. Newt had finished taking a refreshing bath and sat down on his bed, reclining back on two soft pillows. Holly, too, finished her bath earlier than Newt and had let her long wet brown hair down to dry on its own. Her mind was too preoccupied with what might happen on their journey tomorrow that it was hard for her to go to sleep. Not to mention she was also harassed by nightmares. She stood on top of one vacant bed and hopped to another and then to another. Newt quietly watched what she was doing and smiled that despite their current situation, she could find something fun to do. As soon as Holly hopped on the bed where he was relaxing, he quickly grabbed her hands and pinned her down on the bed.

He got on top straddling her with a grin that the defenseless Holly only managed to giggle. He pushed her wet hair back and looked at her beautiful face. He couldn't remember how long it had been since they last left the glade or the first time he had met her. For some reason, he felt like he'd been dating her for almost a year now.

"We're leaving tomorrow" he whispered.

Holly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close until their lips were only inches away from each other. She stared right into his brown eyes and could feel his warm breath.

"I know" she whispered back, her lips brushing against his as she spoke.

Newt smirked. "Once we leave this place, who knows how bloody long it would take for us to have this kind of privacy again"

"Hmm, I'm going to miss having a room with just the two of us"

"I know so—" he pecked her lips. "Why don't we do it again before we leave?"

Holly laughed softly and nuzzled his nose. "Oh Newt, I think I've driven your hormones mad"

"Don't feel sorry for it. I quite love it"

The couple sat up and began undressing confidently in front of one another compared to their first time. Once all clothes were out of sight, Newt pulled Holly for a passionate kiss. He tilted his head at the right angle as they kissed with muffled sounds and warm breaths exiting their mouths. He placed his hand on her bare back and could feel her wet hair and cold damp skin against his palm.

Holly kissed him one last time before her lips trailed off to his jaw down to his neck and collarbone. He shivered and closed his eyes every time the soft luscious lips of Holly planted a kiss on his body. Newt's eyes snapped open and looked down once he realized that she was moving lower until she was already down to her knees and forearms. His heart began to race with an idea of what was about to happen. But he kept his eyes on her to see if he was right.

Holly could perfectly see Newt's face and realized how his cheeks and ears flushed a deep crimson. She felt her own cheeks heat up once she realized she was on the same level as Newt's member which was still in a flaccid state. She was nervous with what she was about to try but determined to do it. She wanted to pleasure him after all the times he pleasured and made her body crave for more. She leaned closer with eyes closed and softly planted a kiss on the tip of his member. To her surprise, the soft manhood of Newt twitched as soon as it made contact with her lips.

"D-didn't you like it?" Holly quickly asked, worried that she might've hurt him.

"No, I like it" he chuckled, pushing his bangs back. "I'm quite sensitive there, that's all"

"Oh" Holly blushed and smiled. "I'll continue then"

Newt sat still and rested his back against the headboard with his legs parted and Holly between them. Holly pressed her lips against the tip once again and with a deep breath, pushed further until his length was inside of her mouth. Upon hearing the soft moan of Newt and tasting his member, Holly felt her body getting aroused and her entrance getting wet. She closed her eyes and concentrated, bobbing her head back and forth and coiling her tongue around his member.

Holly felt surprised that Newt's member began to feel different. In the beginning it was soft and limp but the more she sucked on it; it hardened and seemed to get thicker inside her mouth. She tried to pull back and look but Newt grabbed her by the hair gently and urged her to continue. Complying with what Newt wanted, she continued. With her eyes closed, Holly sucked on it more and moved her tongue around its length. Newt threw his head back and moaned. It was a different pleasure compared to when he was doing her and he liked it both ways.

He looked down and could hear Holly moan as she continued sucking on him that her hair was already tousled and all over her face. He gently pushed her hair back and gripped onto it with one hand so it wouldn't cover her face. She bobbed her head back and forth in a quicker pace with dirty thoughts about Newt filling her mind that she began to moan louder and got wetter. She was completely aroused already.

Newt's toes curled and he clenched his teeth while he let out a soft moan. He knew that if Holly continued to go fast, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from reaching his climax. He grabbed Holly's shoulders and roughly pushed her back as he caught his breath. Holly was lying on the bed with hair tousled, licking off the pre-cum on her lips, and breathed heavily.

"Turn around" Newt ordered and was still trying to catch his breath, wiping off the beads of sweat that formed on his forehead.

Holly's forehead formed a crease and didn't seem to hear what he said due to the pounding of her heart. "W-what?"

"Turn around. On your hands and knees" he said again and helped her up.

Holly flipped her hair to the side and crawled on her hands and knees facing the locked door. She felt two hands on her hips and without any warning, Newt rammed his member into her entrance and thrust as fast as he could without stopping. It took Holly by surprise that she almost lost her balance and gripped onto the bed while whimpering and her breasts bouncing. Newt gripped on her hips tightly until he had left marks on it and continued to thrust deep hitting her sweet spot continuously.

"O-oh Newt" for the first Holly moaned his name that aroused him even more.

Newt leaned forward with his arm around her body, groping her breast, and breathed heavily in her ear. Their bodies were covered in sweat and they could hear their skin slapping against one another and the bed slightly creaking. With his last blow, Newt and Holly reached their peak at the same time and flopped down on the bed with no energy left. Holly's body jerked a bit at the familiar feeling of warm cum oozing out of her entrance. She heaved heavily and felt like her heart was about to burst. Newt was lying on top of her and she could feel the pounding of his heart and his warm heavy breath on her back.

"D-do you think Minho or anyone else heard us?" Holly asked underneath her tired breathing.

Newt snickered and nipped on her earlobe. "Probably and they must terribly be envious of me"

"Or giving Minho a nightmare"

"Either way makes me proud" Newt said with a grin and got off her to lie down on his side of the bed, pulling Holly into hug and suggested they both go to sleep already.


	12. Chapter 11

Nightmares crept on Holly frequently ever since they arrived at that secluded building. Every time she would close her eyes, even just for a short nap, images of her brother being dead or Minho being tortured filled her mind causing her to scream and cry. In every occasion that her nightmares haunted her, Newt was there to wake her up. He would offer her a glass of water, hug her tight, and comfort her throwing aside the tiredness he was feeling just to be there for her. He disliked it, what was happening to Holly. It pained him to see Holly in a devastating situation and wished he could do something to get rid of the nightmares.

But Holly disliked it too. Newt and the others were already troubled enough with what was about to happen next and she felt like she was just adding to the problem. That night, after a session of love making with Newt, she kept herself awake. She wanted to get away from the nightmares for once and didn't want to disturb the others. Newt was sound asleep next to her and she planted a soft kiss on his forehead before quietly getting off the bed. She wanted to spend some time alone for a minute and had put on her clothes before she decided to stay the night at the common room. When she opened the room, she was surprised to see that the door to the mess hall was open and the lights there were turned on shedding some light at the dark and empty common room.

 _Is Rat Man back?_ She thought as she slowly made her way to the door.

She peeked inside the mess hall and saw nothing out of the ordinary. There were the long tables where they ate earlier and still had empty wrappers and fruit peels then the small desk at the corner where she first saw Rat Man earlier that day. She looked around some more until she finally saw a figure move behind Rat Man's desk. She sighed in relief once she realized that it was just Minho in his pajamas. For a moment, she was happy to see that the Minho she was with now was not in any form of danger in comparison to the nightmares she was having. The young Keeper of the Runners stopped scanning the room when he realized he wasn't alone.

"Couldn't sleep again?" He asked before going back to checking every nook and cranny of the mess hall.

Holly crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head, making her way inside the room and sat down on the long bench. "Trying to avoid some sleep, actually"

"That's a terrible idea. You need all the sleep you can get"

"Maybe later. Are you looking for something?"

Holly was really curious to see him awake that night and wondered what it was he was looking for. After one last look, Minho joined and sat next to her with his back leaning against the table and his elbows resting on top of it.

"Just checking for a way out" he simply said.

"Didn't that guy said that the flat trans would appear between 6 to 6:05 in the morning?"

"WICKED says a lot of things" Minho shrugged. "It's hard to tell when they're lying or telling the truth. I just wanted to check for myself if there are other ways out"

 _He really is someone you can depend on. No wonder he's one of the best TAIMN travelers, he's smart and a good leader._ Holly thought. Then her chest tightened, remembering the present Minho again. Yes, she did see him in the TAIMN pod but wasn't sure if he was actually doing alright and the clock master said her brother was having a meeting. She never had such terrible nightmares before and was wondering if they were trying to show her something. She came back to her senses with a snap of Minho's fingers. She blinked twice and saw that Minho was looking at her confused with a hint of concern.

"Are you alright? For a moment I thought you were going to cry" Minho pointed out.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that" she cleared her throat and shook her head a bit trying to get herself to focus. "It's just that, I've been having nightmares. It never happened to me before"

"I know. It's been happening since we got here" he said as he noticed it as well. "Want to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure if you'd like to hear about it. You already have a lot to worry about"

"There's still some room left for other things to worry about, you can talk to me"

"Well, I've been dreaming of these people that I know. People that are close to me. Then armed men would suddenly appear and take them. One was getting tortured and the other was shot to death. Is it telling me something? Are these people I know suffering?"

Minho was silent for a moment and saw the fear in Holly's eyes. She was extremely afraid of the nightmares and was obviously being controlled by it. Taking a deep breath, he reached his hand out and gently patted her head.

"I'm sure that none of those are really happening" he explained. "Your body is tired after all the things we've been through and your brain is turning them into nightmares. There are some boys in our room who would wake up in the middle of the night, having nightmares about how the grievers attacked us back in the Glade. It's normal to be traumatized with all these series of unfortunate events but they're all in your head"

Minho's words shed some comfort to Holly. She agreed to everything he just said. All those things were just inside of her head. And it was probably what WICKED was doing to the gladers, manipulating their minds with fear and watched to know which of them were the strongest of the bunch that would make it out alive.

"Thank you for listening" Holly said sincerely.

Minho gave him a smile before ruffling her hair. "I'm your friend. If anything is bothering you, don't hesitate to speak up. Now get back to bed, we only have a few hours remaining. And Newt might worry if he sees you're not next to him"

"Will you go back to sleep too?"

"Yes I will, don't worry"

"Alright then" she got up from her seat and smiled at him. "Thank you again for everything. I really appreciate it. I'm really glad to have you as a friend"

She wasn't only saying it because of their short conversation, but was also saying it to him as his best friend in the present. She did appreciate having the present Minho a part of her life and she was grateful to know him too when he was part of the experiments.

"I'm happy to have you in my life as well" Minho replied and gestured her to go back to bed. "Good night"

"Good night"


	13. Chapter 12

For once, Holly managed to sleep peacefully that night without any nightmares bothering her. In fact, she was in such a deep sleep that she forgot she had to wake up early for the Flat Trans. She managed to let out a groan once she felt someone roughly patting her back continuously that it started to annoy her. She knew all too well that it couldn't be Newt because he was never rough on her. Well maybe only during the times they decided to make love.

 _Make love!_ She thought and bolted upright not having a care in the world if her hair was a mess.

She quickly pulled the blanket all the way up to her neck and leaned back heavily against the headboard with a nervous look. She saw the younger version of her best friend, Minho, sitting on the edge of the bed looking at her like she was some kind of a weirdo.

"Well good morning to you too" he said, unsure why Holly was acting strange with her cheeks as red as tomatoes.

Holly peeked at herself underneath the blanket and to her surprise, she was wearing a white shirt and a pair of denim shorts.

"Did you dress me up?" she asked, still covering herself with a blanket.

"What? What are you talking about? We were just talking last night at the mess hall"

"Oh right" she groaned and rubbed her temples. She forgot that after she made love with Newt, she got dressed and went out of the room where she found Minho.

"Did something else happ—" Minho closed his eyes, instantly regretted asking a stupid question and sighed. "Oh right, had a little fun with Newt again last night?"

"W-what?"

"Tsk, I'm not stupid" he knocked on the white wall. "I'm just in the other room. Now it makes sense why I heard a bed creaking. I actually thought Fry Pan's bed was about to break" he shook his head and laughed as he continued. "Poor innocent Chuck, he was wondering what was going on in here last night"

Holly blushed in embarrassment and wished she never mentioned anything. "I-I'm sorry"

"Nah, I'll eventually get used to it" then he hummed, having a second thought with what he just said and scrunched his nose. "Actually no, I'll never get used to it. _Never_. But Newt seems to be more energetic after you two had a little fun" he pulled a granola bar from his pocket and tossed it to her. "You need to eat something. In about an hour, the Flat Trans would be appearing"

Holly caught the granola bar with both hands and kicked the blanket away from her. She quietly peeled the wrapper and took a bite of the sweet granola bar that had nuts and raisins in it. As she chewed her food carefully, she looked around the room and realized that it was only her and Minho.

"He's outside" Minho said, pointing at the open door.

Holly looked and saw a glimpse of Newt standing in the common room talking to Thomas and making sure that everyone was eating breakfast and had their things prepared for when they'd leave. Ever since Alby died, Newt didn't stop acting as the leader. He, Minho, and Thomas took the role as the group's commanders and made sure that everything was planned out thoroughly and that each of them was safe.

"He woke up early" Minho continued and lay down on the bed, enjoying the remaining hour they had left. "He actually woke me and Thomas up and said that we have to make sure everyone has eaten before we leave"

"Has he eaten?" Holly asked, eating the remaining half of her granola bar and played with the wrapper.

"Yep, he ate already"

"How come he didn't wake me up early?"

"I'm guessing he wanted you to sleep more maybe because he thinks your body is too _sore_ —ow!" he let out an agonizing cry then laughed as he nursed his side which Holly kicked with a grumpy pout on her face. He really loved teasing her. It was like his new hobby.

"I'm just brightening up your day since we'd be leaving soon" he added with a sincere smile.

Holly sighed and pulled her legs close to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. She wasn't thrilled at the fact they'd be leaving.

"I wish we didn't have to go" she admitted despite knowing it was the best idea. She liked the feeling of sleeping in a room and taking showers every night as if she was in the comfort of her own home.

"Good that" Minho replied and stared at the white ceiling. "But the amazing WICKED enjoys it the most seeing us suffer and the like. Are you nervous?"

"Nervous? Terrified is most likely the right word" she mumbled and began to rub her head, flashbacks of the crank that yanked her hair flashed before her eyes.

Minho looked at her direction and reached out to pat her knee and gave her a comforting smile. "Don't worry. I'm sure Newt won't let that happen again. Even _I_ won't let that happen again"

"Thank you, Minho. That's very sweet of you" she smiled back. "Anyway, why aren't you out there with Newt and Thomas?"

"Pfft, I've been yapping about stuff since he woke me up. I'm sure those shuck face are doing well without me. In fact, I think they're enjoying that they're not hearing my voice. I'm taking this moment to relax"

"Do you think…we'll do lots of running?" Holly asked, tying her hair up in a ponytail. "I mean, Rat Man said the next trial is more difficult compared to the maze"

Minho shrugged. "Who knows? But I hope we wouldn't run as much. Shuck, I don't think Newt could run as much with that injury of his and I don't want him to feel uncomfortable"

"You really care about him, don't you?"

"Don't worry, I have no plans _stealing_ him from you" he smirked.

"I didn't mean it that way!" Holly laughed and threw a pillow at him.

Minho caught the pillow before it could hit his face and laughed out loud. He sat up comfortably on the mattress with his legs crossed and hugged the pillow.

"Aside from you and Thomas, Newt's my best friend" he finally said.

A bunch of gladers who finished their breakfast took their stuff and headed to the mess hall, waiting for any sign of the so called Flat Trans. They still had lots of minutes left and Holly and Minho didn't budge from the bed and continued with their little conversation. The N for TAIMN stood for Newt but, nobody in the organization knew that except for Thomas, Minho, and other founders who helped them create it. Holly also didn't exactly know Minho's relationship with Newt. In fact, she didn't even know that he existed. The present Minho, her best friend, never really talked about his experience with WICKED and kept it to himself like a bad dream he wanted to forget.

"We met each other two years ago" Minho started and recalled his first few weeks in the Glade. "He was quiet and spent most of his time alone. I knew he was scared just like the rest of us but, he just didn't show it. Anyway, Alby was the very first glader so the remaining shanks like Newt and I agreed for him to be the leader. We started building shelters, the homestead, and then did everything we can to survive. I was the keeper of the runners because I was the first person who dared go inside the maze. Newt volunteered to be one-" then he stopped to look at Holly, unsure if he should continue. "I'm not sure if Newt would like me to tell you things that happened back then"

"It's alright" Holly nodded and wanted to hear more. "He'd told me how he injured himself anyway"

Minho took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his black hair before he continued. "So anyway, yeah, that shuck face did become a runner. He was actually good and fast. He's got a good memory too. After that, we decided to build the map room so runners could go there and discuss things about the maze" his face was glum as he went on. "One day after coming back from the maze, something happened. I didn't know what went on inside his stupid brain. Some gladers said they saw him climb up one of the walls. When I went to look, he'd already jumped"

His chest tightened as that painful memory flashed before his eyes like it just happened yesterday. He gripped onto the pillow tightly and tried his best to keep a straight face as he continued the story. "I guess he couldn't take it anymore that we were stuck there without any memories or any possible explanation as to why it happened to us. Alby and I ran inside the maze thinking that the height of the wall killed him. Lucky enough, that shuck face is pretty tough" he managed to laugh. "He had scratches here and there and broke his ankle but, he was breathing. We took him back to the homestead and Alby gave him a serious talk about not giving up. For some reason, it actually worked. We pulled him out from being a runner and decided he should be second in command since he was, still is, a guy easy to approach and has a good sense of leadership. He was in charge of the Glade whenever Alby and I were not available. His limp never healed. It would always remain there as a symbol of his hardship in the Glade. We never talk about that incident anymore. He wanted to change and be a good example to the other gladers. I know he's capable of changing for the better but, I still get worried that he'd do something as insane as jumping from another wall. I kept a close eye on him and I made sure that we'd get out of there alive. It took a while but, here were are away from that prison"

Holly was stunned with his side of the story and couldn't find the words to say. She thought about the present Minho. He had always been happy and cheerful around her. She never saw him cry even once and always kept his tough face like he was ready for battle. She wondered if the present Minho ever cried at the thought that his best friend didn't make it and couldn't see that the world actually improved with the help of TAIMN. She wondered too if the reason why he'd always been overprotective of her was because he didn't want to lose another loved one. Things began to make sense and it helped her understand her best friend even more.

"I'm glad you showed up" Minho spoke again, waking Holly up from her train of thoughts. He was looking at her with eyes full of gratitude. "I know I was a jerk to you back then but, things felt lighter when you came. I started to enjoy my time at the Glade and Newt found a reason to live. Thanks to you, you gave us a second chance to appreciate what we have now even if it's not so great. I'm glad to have you as one of my best friend, Holly"

Holly felt so touched with what he said and did her best not to cry. She nodded her head slowly and flashed him the brightest smile she could ever offer and crawled towards him. She sat next to him without saying a word and planted a soft kiss on his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder which he didn't mind.

"Thank you for being my best friend" she said as sincerely as she did last night.

The subject of their conversation suddenly appeared at the door and looked at them curiously.

"What are you guys talking about?" Newt asked as he went inside the room and stopped at the foot of the bed looking down at them.

Minho kept a straight face when he looked up and answered, "You and your _great_ performance in bed"

"T-that's not true!" Holly gasped and felt her entire face flushed in embarrassment.

"Aww, hear that? You're not pleasuring her enough"

Newt didn't hesitate and kicked him as hard as he could on the leg. Minho yelped for a minute and got up, hopping out of the room bursting in laughter.

"That bloody arse has nothing better to do but to annoy me these days" Newt sighed shaking his head.

Holly had to agree. Ever since she and Newt became a couple, he'd been teasing them a lot. She got up on her knees and hugged his waist. Newt smiled, pushing a strand of hair away from her face and looked at her clear blue eyes.

"You're so beautiful" he whispered with a smile and felt like he's falling in love over and over again whenever he looked at her.

Holly chuckled and leaned forward for a kiss. They shared an intimate kiss for a moment and stopped when they heard Thomas and Minho calling everyone to the mess hall. In about two minutes, the Flat Trans would appear. Holly carried her backpack behind her, tied the blanket of supply over her shoulders, and carried her plastic bag filled with water. She walked out of the bedroom with Newt to join the others and felt sad that they were now leaving the bedroom, the only place that made them feel at home.

Everyone was standing at the mess hall anticipating what was about to happen. At exactly six o'clock, the invisible barrier completely vanished and so did the wall which was replaced by the gray metal Flat Trans. Minho, as the leader, volunteered to go first while Thomas would be the last to make sure everyone has gotten in. One by one the gladers took their turn entering the dark Flat Trans before it closed after five minutes.


	14. Chapter 13

Holly stepped inside the Flat Trans right after Chuck with Newt following just behind her. She looked around and blinked, wasn't too sure if her eyes were open or not. The Flat Trans was engulfed in total darkness that she had to stretch her arms to the sides to feel the cold metal walls for support. From a distant she could hear Minho's voice all the way from the front, which was around an eleven people distance, saying that they have to keep walking forward. And that's what all of them did. No one talked but the rustling footsteps and heavy breathing echoed across the darkness. They had been walking for most likely ten minutes now and the Flat Trans didn't seem to have an ending or any source of light.

Holly kept on walking and sucked on a deep breath. She blinked several times hoping that she'd somehow see something but, it was pitch black. The more she walked, the heavier she felt. The darkness was eating her up and made her feel claustrophobic and dizzy. She felt uneasy as if the walls were closing onto her and would eventually crush her to her death. And at that moment, she felt two hands over her shoulders that came from behind. She knew all too well that it was Newt's.

"What's wrong?" he asked and made the gladers go ahead of him.

The darkness wouldn't let Holly see his worried face but, she could hear it from the tone of his voice that he was. She didn't realize that she was breathing heavily already and felt her head spinning.

"I-I couldn't breathe" she gasped for more air as she spoke. "And my head is aching"

"Newt, is that you?" It was Thomas' voice. "What happened?"

"Holly doesn't feel well" Newt answered.

In pitch blackness, the older guy crouched down and pulled Holly to his back. He wrapped her arms around his neck and without any hesitation lifted her up for a piggyback ride and thanked Thomas when he volunteered to carry a few of his belongings. Once everything was settled, he started to walk along the darkness and caught up with the rest. Holly clung to him tightly, resting her chin over his shoulder with eyes closed and heavy breathing.

"How are you feeling?" Newt whispered and could feel his breathing getting heavier as well.

"Dizzy but I'll be fine in a few minutes" she replied softly and felt guilty after hearing his tired voice. "I'm sorry for being a burden"

"Nonsense, you're not. I just hope we get out of this bloody darkness as soon as possible"

"Good that"

They continued to walk for what felt like miles and none bothered to start talking and decided to save their energy. Minho was still taking the lead and would curse from time to time, wondering where the end of the Flat Trans was. Newt started coughing as the air they were breathing thickened and became dusty. Holly patted his back and suggested him to put her down since she was feeling better. But Newt declined her offer and continued to move forward.

"I'll just carry you until we find the exit. No arguments" he said simple as that.

Once again, Holly rested her head on his shoulder and listened to the rustling footsteps and heavy breathing of the gladers. All of them were tired and thirsty. They had been walking for miles now without any signs of doors or where the hallway would actually lead them. Newt suddenly stopped on his track when a loud shriek filled the air. As it died down, gladers started buzzing everywhere wondering who it came from. He turned around when he realized that the scream came from behind and he and everyone else heard Thomas trying to calm the glader down.

"What's going on back there?" Minho shouted from the front.

Thomas was silent for a moment. It was pitch black so he really didn't understand what just happened. He had no idea what he felt but he definitely knew that the young boy that shrieked wasn't breathing anymore and had no head. As much as possible, he tried to explain what he experienced. He tried helping the boy from jerking around and all of a sudden, the boy fell silent. He reached for the boy's head but instead, felt a big metal ball that has rolled off the dark hallway. Newt was listening to Thomas intently when he suddenly felt something hard bumped the tip of his foot. With Holly on his back, he carefully bent down.

"Something bumped my foot" he said softly. "Would you try touching whatever it is?"

Newt kept a firm grip on Holly as she reached her hands forward, blindly searching on the ground for whatever Newt felt. Her hands moved closer to Newt's feet and felt a smooth metal spherical object almost the shape of a ball. It was bigger than a basketball and when she tried lifting it, it didn't even reach an inch away from the ground for it was heavier than a bowling ball. She made a disgruntled face when she felt that the ball was sticky and wet. She let go of the ball and gasped when she recognized the rusty smell of blood.

"I-its blood!" she shouted and held onto Newt tightly again as he bolted right up.

Without another second to waste, Thomas ordered everyone to run as fast as they could to get away from whatever catastrophe was happening in the dark. Newt tried to run fast with his limp and could hear a loud thud echoing from all sides. More of the metal balls were dropping on the floor in big numbers. Holly felt terrified as the loud thuds got louder and heard another shriek when it killed another boy. She covered her head with a hand and the other one covering Newt's, hoping that it could somehow shield them.

They ran for more than three miles now and Newt got startled when he bumped against the group of gladers that stopped in front of him. Holly wriggled off of Newt's back until she was standing on her two feet and held his hand tightly. All of them were panting and wondering why they had stopped when there were gigantic metal balls trying to break their skulls like eggs. Minho finally reached the end of the Flat Trans and felt a steel ladder right in front of him.

He climbed up, followed by the gladers and bumped his head against the ceiling. He tried feeling the dark ceiling with one hand and realized that it was some sort of manhole with a handle. He grabbed a hold of the handle and with all his strength pushed it upward. Everyone groaned and shouted as a blinding hot light flashed before their eyes that Minho had to close the hole again. It was good that they had found their exit but bad that the heat could burn them alive.

Holly clutched onto the steps of the ladder and blinked several times to get rid of the flashes of white spots that were floating around her. She understood now why the second trial was called the Scorch. From the name itself, the outside was as hot as a million ovens turned on and if they tried going out they would be toasted cookies. Newt left Holly for a while and ascended the ladder to reach Minho so they could think of a plan. As they did that, a silver blob from the ceiling dropped down and attacked Winston.

Winston's shrieks and cry for help was deafening and terrifying that the gladers were wondering what new terror was going on in the dark. Minho pushed the manhole slightly so that a bit of light entered the creak. The glader continued to scream and they found a silver looking blob attack him as if it was alive and trying to eat his face off. Thomas went down the ladder and tried his best to help him. But every time he tried pulling it away, the blob melted between his fingers and went back to the glader's face.

Thomas didn't give up and with more effort; he finally got the blob off Winston's face and threw it down until it completely disappeared. To everyone's surprise, the silver blob did a horrible damage to the former keeper of the slicers. He was trembling, traumatized over what happened, and his face was completely scarred. His hair was gone as if it was burned and left the top of his head covered in blisters and wounds. Thomas couldn't look at him; neither could anyone and felt disgusted.

Holly scurried down the ladder and quickly went to Winston's aid not minding his hideous injury. She opened her backpack and pulled out one of her shirts deciding to use it as a bandage. While she was busy wrapping the shirt over Winston's head Minho, Thomas, and Newt had finally come up with a plan. As the three leaders, they were going outside to check how badly the heat was. Newt suggested that since the blankets they were using for the food were too big, they could use half of it to cover themselves up as protection from the sun. Thomas showed them how to do it and when the three of them were settled and looked like a bunch of ghosts, they quickly made a run for it. As soon as Minho, the last of three, was out Fry Pan quickly closed half of the door so they wouldn't get burned alive but at the same time have a little light in the dark while waiting for their leaders' return.

Holly finally finished mending the traumatized boy's head and was about to close her bag when she saw the black notebook resting on top of a few of her food and clothes. She looked around and realized everyone was tired and terrified with just happened, their minds focused on the arrival of their three leaders. While no one was looking at her direction, she took it as a chance to peek at the notebook and read a few tips that could be useful to them. At the top right of the page, she saw something written in bold capitalized letters and was encircled with red ink.

 **Don't get caught outside with thunder and lightning if you don't want to be burnt bacon! Get out of the scorch as soon as possible!**

That was the tip present Minho had written for her.

 _Thunder? Lightning? How can there be any of those when it's as hot as gazillion ovens?_ Holly thought.

She quickly stuffed the notebook deep in her bag and zipped it close when Thomas suddenly peeked from the manhole. He looked pretty tired and sweaty as if he had just finished running a marathon. He instructed everyone to use their blankets as shawls already and quickly head outside to follow their lead. With the help of Chuck, Holly gave Winston a hand with his shawl and made him go up the ladder first. She fixed her own shawl over herself and slipped the backpack behind her again then made her way up, squinting at the welcoming heat of the sun.


	15. Chapter 14

The blanket wasn't much of a help at all. The sun was too hot to the point that its rays felt like lasers burning a hole through the cloth. But nonetheless, the gladers walked under the scorching desert covered with the blankets that made them looked like wandering ghosts heading toward a deserted town a few miles away. The ghost town was their only hope to get more food, water, and shelter. And not to mention, the mountains were just behind it and beyond it was the location of the so called safe haven, a place that wasn't infected by the virus. The weather was completely dry. Not a single breeze of the wind and especially no signs of thunder and lightning like what Holly read on the notebook. They had only been walking for five minutes but, their energy was already drained as if they had already walked a mile or two.

Holly dragged herself across the dry desert, clutching her plastic bag of water. She was panting and her mood changed drastically due to the scorching climate that she didn't want to talk to anyone at all. Her lips were getting dry, as well as her throat, and beads of sweat formed throughout her body. She looked around searching for her friend that was just attacked at the end of the Flat Trans, wondering about his condition. She finally saw Winston was walking ahead of her, sharing a blanket with Jeff, and they too were very exhausted. They walked and walked but the abandoned town didn't seem to get closer.

The young girl turned around when she heard a grunting noise. She found Chuck down on his knees, panting, and sticky with sweat. His entire shirt was already soaked in his sweat and his cheeks were redder than the usual. He weakly untied his plastic bag of water and gulped but made sure he had enough left for later. He tied it back and saw that the other gladers were already far from where he was except for Holly.

"What's the point of going there, anyway?" Chuck wheezed, looking at the ghost town miles away from where they were. "It doesn't even look like people who lived there survived this heat"

Holly sighed and wasn't in the mood for chitchat or arguments. She groaned as he pulled the heavy boy back up to his feet and stood behind his back. Gently, she started giving him a push to make sure that he wouldn't stop or give up from walking. She kept pushing until they were jogging to be able to keep up with their fellow gladers. She was dead tired and felt her skin sting due to sunburns but never stopped on her tracks.

Hours later, they had walked almost two and a half miles and the town seemed to look bigger than earlier which made the gladers happy. But, the sun was still high up in the blue sky and to make it worse, there was still no wind. It was completely dry and uncomfortable. Holly was already heaving and dried out that she stopped pushing Chuck already. Her skin felt so burnt already and her legs felt like they would come off if she had to walk another step under the unbearable weather.

Her eyes stung as her sweat trickled down on them. Any second now, she could feel herself dropping dead in the middle of the desert with vultures circling her. That is if vultures could actually survive the heat. But before she could fall down to her knees, she felt her arm placed over a shoulder and a hand around her waist. She weakly turned her head to the left and couldn't remember Thomas walking towards her. He supported her and Chuck, urging them to walk some more.

"A few more miles and the sun would set already" Thomas said as he panted with the weight of both gladers on his shoulders and focused ahead.

Holly took a deep breath and forced herself to walk some more keeping up with the pace of the two males. From the distant, she found Newt and Minho taking the lead towards the ghost town. A majority of them were also dead tired as Holly but, no one complained or stopped. She had no idea how in the world did the gladers manage to go through such trials. It made her realize that WICKED was somehow right about one thing. That they were the strongest and that they wouldn't give up for the sake of freedom.

Finally, the blue sky had become a mixture of purple and orange as the sun had set over the horizon. Within an hour, it got dark and the stars began to twinkle over the vast sky and the atmosphere was tolerable than earlier with the gentle wind finally creeping on them. Minho finally told the gladers to stop so they could eat and rest. Holly slipped from Thomas' support and fell down on the cool desert sand, gasping for air like a fish that fell out of an aquarium. Thomas quickly untied Holly's plastic bag of water and helped her drink some of it.

Holly chugged her water like it had been forever since she was able to drink fresh water and didn't care if it seeped through the corner of her lips and trickled down her neck and shirt. A big amount of water went straight down her throat that she had to pull away and cough. She panted and was somehow relieved that her body was rehydrated. Thomas tied her plastic bag that had a few water left when Newt came running towards them.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked Holly worriedly and felt guilty he couldn't be there to look after her.

Thomas had already stood up, patting Newt on the shoulder, and accompanied Chuck who was on the other side lying flat on his stomach.

Holly winced once Newt touched her sunburnt cheek but managed to smile.

"I'm alright, at least I didn't get cooked" she said jokingly.

The gladers were huddled up in a big circle in the middle of the desert. Each of them brought out their own food and began to eat like it had been a month since they last had a taste of food. Newt pushed his sweaty bangs back and grabbed an apple from his supply of food. He bit a big chunk of its juicy meat and held the apple close to Holly's mouth.

"Go on, take a bite" he mumbled as he carefully chewed the chunk of apple in his mouth.

Holly moved her face away from the apple, fanning herself with both hands, and declined.

"I'm too tired to eat" she replied and couldn't believe how sweaty she was already.

"You'll need more energy, Holly" he said and moved the apple close to her mouth again. "Come on, just a bite"

Holly sighed and didn't have any other choice. She didn't want to upset Newt. She placed her hand over his to have a firmer grip on the apple and took a bite on the crunchy fruit. It was sweet and juicy that Holly actually felt the energy coming back to her body. As she ate, she looked around at her friends. They lost some friends again back at the Flat Trans and all of them looked so tired but, some managed to smile. Some also started small conversations about what they would do once they reached the safe haven just to get rid of the trauma they experienced.

"I hate WICKED" Holly mumbled once she had finished her apple and stretched her sore legs in front of her.

Newt laughed softly and took another bite on his apple. "You're not the only one. Here" he handed her the apple he was eating and carefully placed Holly's legs on top of his own. "Keep eating while I massage you"

Holly nibbled the apple and groaned when Newt pressed his thumbs against the tensed area of her legs. He concentrated on massaging her until it stopped aching.

"I don't think Jake would be too happy to know you're going through such hardship" Newt whispered, making sure that no one could hear him but Holly.

Holly laughed and could imagine her older brother going hysterical. "He'd be pretty paranoid, I can tell. But if he knew I have you around to look after me he'll be slightly relieved"

"Just slightly?" there was a hint of curiosity in Newt's tone.

"Jake is the most overprotective person I know" Holly confessed with a soft chuckle, "No matter how nice you are, he'll still keep an eye on you"

"Hm, do you think I'll have a hard time getting along with him when we meet?"

Holly's legs felt better after being massaged by Newt. She looked at the drained young man in front of her, imagining how he and Jake's relationship would be like on their first encounter.

"I don't think you'll have _that_ much of a hard time with him" she finally said and chuckled. "You're quite the gentleman" then she leaned closer, making sure no one could hear her whisper except him. "We just have to keep the sex part a secret"

Newt snickered and stole a kiss from her then grinned. "That would definitely be a secret your brother shouldn't find out because I know that'll be the bloody reason he'll kill me"

"Well obviously I wouldn't let him do such a thing to you" she replied then the smile on her face began to fade. Talking about her brother made her remember the dream she had a few days ago. It felt hard not being able to communicate with him and it worried her that something wrong might've happened. "I…miss Jake and worry about him" she shared once she noticed the worried look on Newt's face. "I keep having bad dreams and it's messing with my head"

Newt reached for her hand and squeezed it. "It's just a dream, Holly. Don't worry too much about it" he said. "What you should worry about is yourself and to get to the safe haven as quickly as possible. Once we get there, I'll personally bring you back to your brother"

"Thank you, Newt" she smiled and felt a bit relieved.

Hours passed and the desert turned completely dark with only the moon and the stars as their source of light. According to Minho's watch, it was already quarter to midnight and they had to go to sleep so they could continue their travel to _hell_ tomorrow morning. No one dared to argue and went to sleep because they were all dead tired. Newt pulled Holly close to him and lay down under the starry sky and covered themselves with the white blanket. She rubbed her tired eyes with her knuckles and with Newt planting a soft kiss on her forehead, she fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 15

_Holly found herself standing in another empty hallway. This one wasn't white. It was beige and it looked like a hallway of a house. There were several frames—all shapes and sizes—hanging on the walls. There were pictures of a beautiful blonde baby girl playing with dolls, crawling towards the photographer with a bright smile showing off her two front teeth, and another picture of her kissing her mum on the lips._

 _Holly stared at that specific picture for a long while. The mother, who was holding the beautiful baby and kissing her on the lips, was her but much older. She looked around and finally realized that she was actually inside her own home probably ten years from now. She shifted her attention on the right end of the hallway and saw light coming from what seemed to be the living room._

 _She took slow steps towards the end of the hallway, nervous with what she might find. But as she stepped into the room, she felt her stomach flutter. It was a very simple living room with couches and a coffee table. On the corner by the window was a playpen. There were colorful wooden blocks scattered inside the playpen and a few dolls. The baby girl she saw on the picture was also there. Her short blonde hair glistened under the sunlight, her blue eyes sparkled, and her chubby cheeks were as red as her lips. She was crawling around, cooing, and playing with a few blocks._

" _Holly"_

 _She looked at the handsome young blonde sitting on the soft comfy chair wearing a blue sweater and brown khaki pants. It was Newt. A few years older, maybe somewhere in his mid-twenties, with his hair pushed back. He smiled at Holly and stretched his hand out, inviting her to join him. Holly didn't hesitate and took his hand. Newt pulled her and made her sit on his lap, his arm around her waist as they watched the baby play._

" _She's as beautiful as you" Newt smiled and kissed her arm gently._

" _She's a smaller version of the both of us" Holly smiled._

" _Do you think she'll be thrilled to have another sibling?"_

" _Another sibling?"_

 _Newt looked at her with an amused expression. "Have you forgotten?" he slowly placed his hand on her stomach._

 _Holly looked down with eyes widening in shock. Her stomach was as big as a watermelon and she could feel something move inside of her. Their second baby._

" _The doctor said it'll be a boy this time" Newt smiled proudly. "I'm excited to meet him"_

" _Yeah, me too" Holly answered and rubbed her stomach, feeling the baby kick around._

 _Just as they were enjoying the beautiful morning, a knock came from the front door. Newt didn't seem to be happy at all and told Holly to stay there. Holly did as she was told and sat on the couch, curious as to whom their unexpected visitor was. When Newt opened the door, there were armed men standing with the name WICKED printed on the left side of their shirt. They demanded to have the baby for she was a candidate to join the experiments for finding the cure for the Flare virus. Newt shouted at them to get lost and that they weren't going to give their daughter to them. The armed men ignored Newt and pushed themselves inside the house and decided to do things by force._

 _Holly panicked and wanted to get on her feet. In no way did she want her child to be a test subject by a monstrous organization. As soon as she got up, she felt a sudden pain in her stomach like she was about to give birth at that moment. She fell back on the chair heaving due to the unbearable pain. Everything around her was chaotic. The baby started crying and Newt was shouting and fighting the armed men._

 _Just then, a single gunshot erupted._

 _Newt stumbled down on the coffee table with the bullet going through his head. He lay flat on the table with blood running down his head staining his blonde hair. His lifeless brown eyes were wide open and directly looking at Holly's direction. Holly froze in her seat and turned pale at the sight of Newt's dead body._

" _Nooooo!" she screamed in fear. With her aching stomach, she crawled on the floor and reached Newt. Her trembling hands touched Newt's cold pale face, urging him to wake up. But it was too late. He was already dead. Her cry was as loud as the baby who was already being taken by the armed men. She didn't know what to do first for her entire body was in pain— pain for the loss of her husband, child, and the coming of their second child to a cruel catastrophic world._

 _She was beginning to feel weak due to the pain that she couldn't even stand up. She couldn't run after the men who got her daughter and killed Newt. And just then, her body gave in to the excruciating pain and everything went dark._


	17. Chapter 16

Holly woke up thirty minutes later with a sudden jerk. She lifted her upper body, groggy, and realized it was still dark and everyone else was asleep including Newt. She pulled her ponytail down and tousled her hair that had bits of sand in it. She yawned softly and remembered the reason why she suddenly woke up.

Another bad dream decided to visit her. And it pained her because it wasn't about Jake or Minho. That time, it was Newt. She covered her face with one hand and took a deep calming breath. Her nightmares were taking away her energy leaving her paranoid and stressed out. She didn't know what was causing such terrible dreams. Was it because of stress? Could it be that WICKED found a way to manipulate her and used her weaknesses to torture her? But in the end, Holly didn't really have the answer.

She looked up at the dark sky and it was still far from morning. She remembered the tip she read about lightning and a storm. But the sky seemed peaceful and calm though she noticed that the stars disappeared. But it was WICKED they were dealing with. They were capable of doing anything so even from scorching hot; the weather could drastically change within a minute. She didn't want to risk losing some gladers again like what had happened in the Flat Trans so she shook Newt's arm gently until he was conscious. He let out a soft groan and didn't want to wake up just yet. But he forced his sleepy eyes open and saw that it was still completely dark and they had a few more hours till dawn.

"It's still dark" he muttered and tried going back to sleep but glanced at her with a worried look. "Are you having another nightmare?"

"I'm alright but we have to go now" Holly whispered and caressed his cheek.

"It's not yet time. We'll do that at sunrise like we planned"

Holly pouted and leaned closer. "I thought you trusted me?"

Newt squeezed his eyes tight before opening them again and could see Holly looking down on him with her face slightly covered with her loose hair. He reached forward and tucked her hair behind her ear, sighing. "I do but, Minho would kick my arse if I wake him up without any explanation"

"Look there" she pointed at the dark sky above them. "The stars are gone. I feel like a storm is coming and it wouldn't be safe for any of us to be out here in the open"

Newt looked at the big gray clouds that were forming on the once starry sky. She was right. And it looked like it would be a huge storm. Without any second thoughts, he sat up and stretched his arms before patting Holly's head.

"I'll go tell Minho" he said and quickly got up, walking around trying not to step on anyone and searched for Minho around the group of sleeping gladers.

Holly was sitting quietly and saw that Newt crouched down when he finally found Minho. From where she was sitting, she could tell that Minho wasn't pleased to be woken up at such a time that he pushed Newt's hand away. But Newt managed to hit Minho's head and told him the reason why they had to go. After a few minutes of persuasion, Newt successfully convinced him. Minho got up tiredly along with Thomas and made a ruckus by clapping his hands really loud.

"Alright sissies, rise and shine" he yelled and gently kicked the gladers to wake them up. "We have to get going"

Most of the gladers groaned and complained that the sun wasn't even up yet. Fry Pan even tried hiding under his blanket.

"Well, if you want to live up to your name and get _fried_ under the blazing sun then fine" Minho retorted and rolled his eyes, grabbing whatever was left of his supply.

Fry Pan groaned and eventually sat up. He hated that even if he argued, he knew Minho always had a point. After a while, all gladers were up and about with their blankets of supply. Newt took Holly's hand and walked in front of the pack with Minho and Thomas, leading the still tired gladers to the ghost town. They walked without talking and could hear some of them yawning loudly and dragging their feet with them.

Holly squint her eyes to get a better view of the ghost town's direction and quickly tugged on the sleeve of Newt's shirt. Without a word, she pointed at the light illuminating from the town as if someone had built a bonfire. Minho and the rest of the gladers saw it too.

"That could be anything" Minho said as he scratched his neck where a tattoo was printed. "It can be people that can help us ooooor a bunch of cranks that would want to eat us"

Thomas sighed as he looked back at the source of light then back at Minho. "What's the plan then?"

"We head for the nearest building without being seen and as usual, try not to get ourselves killed"

"Pretty good idea to me, let's go"

Miles after miles, the ghost town seemed to be within reach and so did dawn. The gray clouds were more visible now and the gladers began to hear the rumbling noise of thunder. The light they once saw at the town disappeared and saw a thin line of smoke rising from the embers of the flame. Whoever made the bonfire must've seen the ugly weather and decided to look for shelter as well. Thomas insisted that they all run faster once he heard loud thunder roaring from beneath the thick clouds.

They finally reached the closest building and went inside without any hesitation. Most of the glasses on the windows were already broken and the place was dusty as if it had been abandoned for a hundred years. Once Minho checked every nook and cranny of the building, he decided it was safe enough for them to use it as a camp site. He instructed everyone to get some more rest and let the storm pass by before they explored the town for food and water.

The gladers liked the idea of going back to sleep. They each found a perfect spot and went back to sleep, hoping it wouldn't be disturbed again like before. Holly was sitting behind a concrete wall near the dusty window and peeked outside. She looked at the street and saw abandoned cars, buildings, and a few lifeless bodies scattered on the street. The thunder rumbled again behind the big gray clouds with flashes of lightning erupting once in a while as if it was gathering strength for a really strong storm.

She turned around and found everyone was sleeping again on the cold floor. Newt was leaning his back on a thick concrete pillar with his arms folded across his chest and eyes closed. He fell asleep while seated, thinking it would be easier to move if something ever happened. Holly was about to join him when she saw movement coming from the corner of her eye. Every glader was in sight, asleep, when she looked at the other end of the spacious room and saw a shadow hiding behind one of the pillars.

Her heartbeat accelerated and could feel it up in her throat already. For a moment she wondered if she should wake Newt, Minho, or anyone. But instead of doing that, she slowly opened her purple backpack and pulled out her dagger. Quietly, she got up on her feet with a tight grip on her dagger and walked at the other end of the room where she saw the dark figure. She passed by a row of concrete pillars and finally reached the last one where she had seen movement, taking a lunge with her dagger to whomever it was lurking in the dark and spying on them. To her surprise, no one was there.

 _Maybe it was just my imagination_ , she thought. That must've been it since she only had like thirty minutes or less of sleep before the nightmare disturbed her.

But before she could even go back and join her friends, she stood frozen and felt something sharp pricked the back of her neck. Someone was behind her. She carefully raised her hands up in surrender and slowly turned around to face whoever it was. It was a bit dark in the area where they were standing at but she could see the features of the person—it was a girl with her hair tied up in a ponytail and was pointing a sharp knife at her.

"Brenda" the girl, whose voice was both cold and calm, introduced herself without putting the knife down and kept a curious eye on her. "I'm one of the cranks living in this building. Who are you?"

Holly shivered at the word crank and remembered the first crank she ever encountered back in the secluded building they stayed at. The one that yanked her hair was out of control and ghastly but the one standing in front of her looked like a normal human being.

"I-I'm Holly" she uttered, unsure if it was the right move to have told her who she was. "W-we're sorry if we're trespassing. My friends and I are completely harmless. We just needed a place to stay at until the storm passes"

"Where did you guys come from?" that time, Brenda finally put her knife down.

"We came through this thing called Flat Trans a-and we found ourselves in the middle of the desert. We've walked several miles and we're hoping to find food and water in this town"

Brenda was about to speak when someone, a man, jumped off from the upper floor. Holly was startled that she took a step back and saw the man, much taller and older than her, smiling at her direction.

"We've got food and water, Hermana" he told her with a thick Spanish accent.

"This is Jorge" Brenda introduced the man standing next to her. "He's the leader of the cranks under this roof"

Holly felt a chill down her spine once again at the mention of cranks. Plural. Excluding the two of them, there were more cranks in that building. But she was rather surprised that they weren't acting like lunatics that wanted to eat her alive. She stood still with her dagger on one hand as Jorge circled her as if she was being examined while Brenda was just watching and even smiled at her.

"We can give you food and water" Jorge finally said and stopped in front of her with only a few inches apart, a good chance for her to stab him. "But, it'll be up to me if I'd want to give some to you"

"W-what should we do so you'd give us some?" Holly asked almost in a whisper.

Jorge looked behind her and could see the guys sleeping peacefully not even aware of their presence.

"I'll figure it out tomorrow morning when I greet your friends" he answered with a smile. "For now, I'll let you all sleep under my roof"

Without a word, Holly nodded and turned around.

"And Hermana" Jorge called out again.

Holly nervously looked back as the so called leader of the cranks gave her yet another smile that made her feel eerie.

"Try not to ruin the surprise by telling any of them that we're here. Because if you do, Brenda and my other friends won't hesitate slitting your throats"

Holly turned pale and quickly walked away without looking back, almost running. She quickly hid her dagger in her pocket and scooted in Newt's arms for a tight hug. Newt groaned for a moment and opened one eye to see that it was Holly who jumped into his arms like a cat. He closed his eyes again and hugged her tight, thinking that she was scared of the thunder and lightning or just had another bad dream.

"Don't worry, you're safe here with me" he mumbled and went back to sleep.

For a moment, Holly wasn't worried about the storm or her bad dreams. She slowly tilted her head up and her eyes widened. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. And more. There were several heads looking down at them coming from the upper floors as if they had been hiding in the dark, waiting eagerly to prey on the sleeping gladers. She saw that one of them was the leader, Jorge, making a signal like he was telling his companions that it wasn't the right time and gave Holly a smile. She buried her face on the crook of Newt's neck and shut her eyes tightly wishing that it was all just her imagination.


End file.
